Naruto: The Pride of the Leaf
by surrealcereal
Summary: What if the Kakashi Chronicles had never happened? Obito stays in the village, Rin lives, Kakashi never receives the Sharingan, and Naruto's parents survive. But there are still many evils in the world, can Naruto handle them? Or will the Akastuki prevail? NaruAyame NaruSaku SasuAyame RinObito KakaRin
1. Chapter 1

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

A/N: Real quick before we start this off. This is my first fanfiction so please be gentle and constructive with any reviews you have. Also if you notice any gramatical errors, feel free to point them out. Thanks!

Also another quick thing: I will have a few OC's but they will only be used as necessary and very few will actually be main characters.

Also theres this stuff:

While I do love ramen, I do not own Naruto.

Kyubbi talking

Thoughts

"Regular Speach"

"Mumbling"

Chapter 1

Minato stood at his window, looking out at the village. It was a cool summer morning and as the sun rose above the trees he smiled and thought to himself about his son who was expected to be born in the next few days. Suddenly, he felt a viscious killing intent behind him as Kushina came into the room

"Minato~", she started with a vein popping out of her forhead, clearly agrivated by something "did you not hear me calling for you?"

"Sorry," he replied rubbing the back of his head and flashing her his usual toothy grin, "I was just thinking abut how i can't wait for the little one to arrive"

"Oh, well that's nice" she said as she pulled out a kunai and chucked at her husband who barely managed to dodge, "BECAUSE HE'S ON HIS WAY! I'VE BEEN YELLING FOR YOU FOR TEN MINUTES THAT MY WATER'S BROKE AND YOU'RE UP HEAR STARING OUT THE DAMN WINDOW!" As she was screamig the last bit, she was throwing a seemingly endless number of kunai at her now terrified husband.

"Wait.. What?!" Minato replied with a dumbfounded look planted firmly on his face, still dodging kunai.

"I'M HAVING A FUCKING BABY!" and as she screamed those words she picked up the couch and threw it at her husband whose final thoughts before trying to teach a couch how to fly were..

This is gonna hurt... A lot..

5 Hours Later

Minato looked at his son and his wife and was noticably panicing. He never thought that he would ever have to make a choice like this. Rin had just told him that his son had been so influenced by the kyubbi's chakra during the pregnancy that he would have to have the bijuu placed inside of him to live, but if he took it out of Kushina, she would die.

His mind was trying frantically to come up with a solution where he didn't have to choose between his wife or his son when his other two students burst into the room simultaniusly yelling "Minato-sensei!"

Minato nodded at the two prompting them to continue.

"Minato-sensei," Obito started off enthusiastically, "I believe we may have found a way to save both of their lives!"

Minato practically jumped on the Uchiha, gripping the jounin's shoulder's much too tight for comfort whileexcitedly shouting "What is it?!" This was the first lead he's hd since he got word of the problem with his son's birth and he knew he was running out of time to make a decision.

It was Kakashi who spoke up next in his usual "The Reaper Death Seal."

Minato knew it. Hell, he'd created it but he knew the cost of using such a justu. _So there's no way we get out of this without someone dying... Is there?_

As if he had read Minto's mind, someone else entered the room and said "But there may be a way to stop a life being cut so dramtically short" Minato looked up to see the Sandaime standing in the doorway Kakashi and Obito had just burst through with his pipe still in his hand as he took a long drag off it.

"What do you mean, Sandaime-sama?" Minato asked skeptically.

"I've lived a long and fulfilling life Minato," he said as he exhaled, letting the smoke roll out of his outh as he spoke, "and it would be a tragedy to see a small child having to grow up without his parents. I know what you're thinking but at least let this life that has seen so much war end with its Will of Fire passed on."

Minato tried to speak out againt it, that his family needed him just as much, but Hiruzen simply raised his hand and Minato looked down to the ground, sobbing.

"I-I.. I can't t-thank you e-enough, Sandaime-sama" Minato said between sobs, his pride as a man and a shinobi nowhere to be found. In this moment all he could do was weep before a man whom deserved every bit of respect and admiration he'd received during his time as Hokage. Hiruzen knelt down beside the weeping man and placed his hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down, telling how it's his choice and an honor to have such a respectable final purpose.

Kakashi and Obito kneeled down before the Sandaime as he stood back upright and walked into the room.

As seal took his toll on Hiruzen, he saw his life flash before his eyes, but it was not a life he had lived. It was as if he was watching from someone else's point of view. He saw the same blonde boy he'd just saved being treated creuly by the village, thrown out of stores, restraunts, and struggling just to earn anyones attention. A single tear rolled down his cheek and his final thoughts were those of satisfaction, of knowing that he had saved a young boy from going through something so painful.

I'm sure that one day, being raised by those two, that he'll become the Pride of the Leaf.

Those were the final thoughts of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokake, as he sealed half of the Kyubbi into the small boy, leaving the other half in his now unconcsious mother who was holding her son as they slept.

Minato came in after he fealt the chakra signature of Sandaime suddenly extenguish and heard his son begin to cry.

He wiped the tears from his eyes and put on a facade of calm and collected as medic-nin and civilian doctors came out of the room, reporting the success and removing the body of the recently deceased Hiruzen.

Minato walked into the room, followed by Kakashi and Obito, to see his wife holding his now silent son. And in that moment everone in the room had the exact same thought.

Thank you, Sandaime-sama.

And thus began the tale of Namikaze Naruto, son of the Yellow Flash and Red Hot Habanero.

And that's the first chapter! What do you think? And yes, he did see Naruto's canon childhood is his premontion/flashback/out-of-body-experience/thing. Also, Obito is in the village, Rin is alive, and Kakashi doesnt have the sharingan, but I'm pretty sure you kew most of that already.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Coupling ideas?

I'm game for pretty much anything but NaruxHina... worst.. couple..ever...

Anyways, Later!

-SurrealCeareal


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 2

7 Years After Chapter 1

"Naruto time to get up! Kakashi and Obito are here to see you!" Kushina yelled to the blonde boy still sleeping upstairs as she finished making breakfast.

"I swear Obito, he's turning out just like you." Kakashi said, chuckling slightly.

"What do you mean by that?" Obito yelled as he stood up and got in Kakashi's face.

"You know exa- Ow-ow-ow-" The silver haired nin was cut shot as Kushina had come over and grabbed each of their ears and pulled them close to her mouth.

"Now boys~" she said with a tone sweet enough to give you dibates, but terrifying enough to make you want to run away and go into hiding, "THERE WILL BE NO ARGUING LIKE CHILDREN AT MY TABLE!" screaming loud enough into both of their ears for them to hear a ringing sound for the next several minutes.

"Meh, Kushina-chan"Minato started before returning his attention to his coffee after noticing the death glare his red haired wife was sending his way. "Don't do it again boys."

"But-"

"Is there a problem Obito-san?" There was that same sweet but evil tone all three men in the room knew all to well. The tone that sent shivers up their spines everytime they heard it.

"No!" Obito said as he ducked behind Kakashi who was laughing.

Right at that moment, a small child appeared seemingly out of nowhere and began shoving pancakes and bacon into his mouth at an allarming rate.

"There you are Naruto. I was just about to come get you out of bed myself." Kushina said in the same sweet tone.

Naruto gulped and began trembling. "N-no need K-kaa-chan, I-I'm up-ttebayo."

Everyone at the table sweat dropped at the little tick at the end of his sentence before looking at a certain blushing red head.

"What makes you so sure he got that from me-ttebayo?" As she said it her face got the same color as her hair, if not brighter.

Everyone begn laughing except for Naruto who had no idea what was going on, ya know?

"So Obito-sensei, Kakashi-sensei" Naruto said before shoving another peice of bacon into his mouth, "What are you teaching me today?"

Obito looked at the boy and smiled "My specialty! Ninjutsu!" And as he said it he flashed his Sharingan at the blonde boy who was looking at him with awe.

"Sweet! I can't wait!" and with that the blonde boy disapeared fro the table and reapeared at the door.

"You know sensei,"Kakashi said looking at Minato, "One day you're either gonna be thankful you taught him that jutsu of yours or really regretful."

Minato scratched the back of his head and smiled as his former student. "Probably"

Afew moments later Kakashi, Naruto, and Obito all arrived at training grounds 7. A soft breeze rolled through the air as Naruto and Obito took their stances facing one another.

"I'm not holding back on you after last time Naruto!" Obito said with clearly aggrivated look on his face.

"That was an acident! I didn't mean to set your pants on fire! Can't you take a joke?" And with that the blonde boy launched himself at the Uchiha, throwing kicks and punches at the man who dodged them all easily.

"Didn't I saw today was Jutsu's?" Obito asked as he caught Naruto's foot just before it made contat with his cheek. He planted his foot and sent the blonde flying into the trees. "I mean I havn't even had to activate my sharingan yet!"

No sooner than the words had come out of his mouth he heard

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

A fire ball burst out of the trees headed strait towars the dark haired jounin who dodged and activated his sharingan._ "Not again."_

Naruto flashed behind Obito, readying a small ball of swirling chakra in his hand.

"Never let your oponent get behind you, Obito-sensei!" Naruto shouted with a foxy grin on his face.

"Rasengan!" he stuck his hand out to strike him with the ball of chakra, but Obito grabbed his wrist and sent him off balance and caused him to stumble. Obito sw the opening and jabbed at the back of the young boy's neck, aiming to knock him out. As he struck, Naruto disappearel in a cloud of smoke.

_Shit, a shadow clone. _Obito thought trying to find where Naruto was hiding. He didn't have to wait long as the blonde came rushing through the smoke left by his clone.

Obito and Kakashi's eyes both shot wide open when they saw the technique Naruto was rushing at Obito with and heard the all too familiar sound of birds chirping.

_When did he learn that?! _Obito thought to himself while Kakashi thought with a slight smile _Still not as good as mine._

"Chidori!" Naruto shouted, smashing his hand into the log Obito had barely managed to Kawarimi with, almost completely obliterating it.

_He's actually got Obito on the defensive, he's gotten better. _Kakashi thought, extremely impressed with Naruto _He might actually be better than Itachi was at his age. _

A few hours later, Naruto was working on his water walking technique as Kakashi and Obito sat under a tree on the river bank. The two jounin would occassionally shout words of encouragement out to the blonde as they sat and watched him try to maintain his balance.

Suddenly the blonde boy shouted, "Shut up Karuma! I can handle it!"

The two jounin looked at eachother sceptically with the same thought on their minds _Who the hell is Karuma?_

"Oi, Naruto-kun,"Kakashi shouted over to the blonde,"Who's Karuma?"

Naruto blushed a little as he realized he had actually said it out loud. "It's kinda hard to explain Kakashi-sensei.." he started, looking around puzzled as he tried to figure out a way to explain it.

Kakashi and Obito shared a knowing glance at this point, all but certain of the identity of Karuma.

"Naruto-kun..."Obito said, with appearant concer in his voice,"Is Karuma a really big fox?"

Naruto nodded and smiled, "Yeah! He helps me train and tells me how to improve my justu's!"

Obito and Kakashi's jaws practically hit the floor upon hearing this.

_"The Kyubbi is friendly?! And it has a name?! We'll have to verify this with Minato-sensei and Kushina-san later.."_ The silver haired nin wispered into the Uchih's ear.

Obito only nodded in reply and ended their lesson for the day.

_He'll be entering the academy soon. And if he's managed to befriend the Kyubbi, he could easily be one pf the greatest ninjas the leaf has ever seen. _Kakashi thought to himself as he smiled and looked up to the sky. _I just hope for his sake that he can control that power._

And that's chapter two! Don't expect updates this fast all the time, I work full time and I had the past couple of days off. I'll try to update atleast once a week if not more, so stay tuned! Also please review and favorite!

-Surrealcereal


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 3

A/N: Really quick guys, the chapters are going to strat getting longer from here and I will be introducing a few minor o/c's. I got a review for a coupling that i thought was kind of awesome so im going to run with that. But let me say this really fast,

Very few relationships that happen between children last long. I intend to make this a realistic story so there will be VERY FEW long standing coulpings early on. The charcters will develop and as they do, their interests and relationships are viable to change. With that said, the first Narux Coupling will be happening next chapter, and possibly a few others(still undecided).

Also, thank you everyone who has reviewed, read, etc. It means a lot to me that people are enjoying this story and thank you for pointing out my spelling errors as well, but some things spell check still does't catch.

Okay, with that really long A/N I now present the third chapter after these messages:

I'm writting this now because the internet in my area is down so I can't get on XBOX Live. Updates will not always be this fast.

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

AND I LIKELY NEVER WILL

BUT IF I DID NARUTO'S SON WOULD HAVE A BETTER NAME THAN "BORUTO"

END A/N

Obito sat atop the Hokage Mountain, alone with his thoughts. It was night now, and only a few lights coming from windows dotted the village below him. He had been sitting up here for quite some time, trying to decide how to present the information he'd learned about Naruto and Kearlier to the council in the morning. He had already discussed the matter with Kushina and Minato. Minato began operating in Hokage-mode immediately, trying to decide how to calm the council once they learned of this while Kushina seemed to disappear inside of her own little world. She only sat on the couch, without saying a word to anyone, and began to converse with her own half of the teanant she and Naruto shared.

Obito put his hands behind his head and laid back in the soft grass as he disdainfully remembered how he'd been stuck as the one to go before the council.

-Flashback-

Kakashi and Obito walked through the village, dreading the final words their Sensei had left them with.

One of you will have to present this information to the council tomorrow. I don't care who, but one of you will have to do it.

Obito stuffed his hands in his pockets as they walked in silence and Kakashi pulled out his _Icha-Icha _book. It was late, and only a handful of people were wandering the street.

Obito decided to break the silence. "So how are we gonna decide who goes?" Obito would settle for their usual game of rock-papper-scissors, which was normally used to decide who had to fill out the mission reports.

Kakashi said something that caught Obito completely off-guard, "Nose-goes"

Obito looked over at the silver-haired nin to see that he was still holding his little orange book with one hand, but with his other he was touching his index finger to his nose. The Uchiha began ranting about how Kakashi had cheated and that he wanted a re-do.

Kakashi simply waved him off and Shunshin-ed away, leaving Obito ranting in the streets.

-End Flashback-

_"I swear I'm gonna rip off that mask and shove it strait up his ass!" _Obito mumbled as he stood up and stretched.

"But I guess I should get home, I have to go before the council tomorrow. Damn, lazy sack of-" And with that, he shunshin-ed away, unkowing of the secret plotting going on at that exact moment.

Elsewhere, beneath Konoha

The circular room was dark except for the few torches which lined the walls. The only thing visible in the room was a man, kneeling in the center in a standard ANBU outfit with a tiger mask. He kept his gaze to the floor, not looking to the man who was concealing himself in the shadows.

"So Naruto has leared how to communicate with the Bijuu sealed inside of him, has he?" said a deep voice, which seemingly came from every direction due to it echoing of the walls.

"It would seem that way sir." said the ANBU, who continued to look down at the floor.

"Very well then," the hidden man said, taking a brief pause to think of the best way to utilize this information, "Don't make any further movements for now. I can't risk your true purpose being comprimised.

"Yes sir." was all the man said before shunshin-ing away, leaving the man in the shadows in the room by himself.

_The council needs to know bout this _He thought to himself eagerly _And when they do, I can stand to gain something from this._

The following morning seemed like any other to Naruto, except for one small thing.

"Uhh.. Dad?" the blonde said as he came down the stairs and saw his dad's attire for the day, "Why are you in your Hokage clothes today?"

Minato smiled at his son and replied, "Well, it's not everyday that the Hokage signs up his son for the Academy is it?" Minato only half-lied to his son; while he was signing Naruto up for the Academy today, he was also dressed up for the council meeting scheduled for that morning.

Naruto's face lit up as he heard this however and immediately began running around excitedly yelling about how he couldn't wait to show what the son of the Yellow Flash and Red-Hot Habanero could do.

Minato and Kushina both laughed at their son's reaction, until he knocked the bacon out of his mother's hand and onto the floor just before she took a bite.

Minato and Naruto both made a diving attempt to catch it, and unfortunately for them... They missed.

"Naruto," Kushina said with veins visibly pooping out of her forehead, "That was the last peice of bacon.."

"Run!" Minato shouted to his son as the two of them flashed out of the room.

All throughout the village a terrible killing intent was felt as the heard the well known scream of an angry Kushina.

"NAMIKZE NARUTO GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE! YOU CAN'T HIDE FOM ME FOREVER!"

Minato had flashed to the Academy to enroll Naruto before heading to the council meeting. When he had finished filling it all out, he took it to a desk where a silver haired chunin was sitting.

"So, the Hokage's son is going to be joining the acadamy, huh?" the chunin asked.

Minato smiled at him and replied, "Sure is, are you going to be his instructor?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. My name is Mizuki-sensei." As he said this, Mizuki stuck out his hand. Minato gave him a quick handshake.

"Please take good care of my son, Mizuki-sensei."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Minato then flashed to the council meeting, where the several clan heads that made up the council were waiting along with the ANBU leader Danzo. Minato didn't trust Danzo in the slightest, but he never had any solid evidence that he could make stick to him to remove him from his postion.

The council consisted of Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuuga Hiashi, Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, Akamichi Choza, Sarutobi Asuma, Inuzuka Tsume, Danzo and Minato. Obito was standing outside the door, waiting to be called in.

Minato cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, but before he could speak Fugaku cut him off.

"So why have you called us here, Hokake-sama?" he asked, oblivious to the rudeness he just displayed.

Minato just brushed it off and said, "As all of you know, half Kyuubi was sealed away seven years ago by the Sandaime Hokage inside my son, Naruto."

Everyone in the room nodded, prompting him to continue.

"Well, it would seem that Naruto has learned not only to communicate with the Bijuu, but has befriended him as well."

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" This time it was Tsume who spoke.

"What I mean is that Naruto may have very well made one of the greatest threats Konoha has ever had to defend itself from and made it into a potential ally."

Danzo began to squirm in his seat a bit in excitement. Just a few more statements like that and he might very well be able to get the child into his ranks.

"I suppose you have some form of proof?" Hiashi asked, somewhat impatiently.

"Indeed, I do." Minato replied before calling out, "You may enter now."

Everyone looked to the door as Obito stepped in. He nodded at Fugaku, who nodded in reply. They had gotten fairly close ever since Obito had resolved the issue that nearly caused the Uchiha to revolt against Konoha.

"What kind of proof is this?!" Danzo shouted as he stood up, slamming his fist onto the table. "This is meerly a biased opinion! We need facts here Hokage-sama, not the opinion of the boy's teacher!"

"You would do well to listen instead of speaking Danzo-sama, lest you over-step your boundries." Shikaku said, shooting the cripled man a look, along with everyone else gathered.

_Shit_ Danzo thought as he sat down "Please pardon my interuption." And with that he waved his hand for Obito to begin speaking.

"Hatake Kakashi and I were working with Naruto on his chakra control, namely water-walking excercises. This is a area where he struggles due to his large reserves." He took a pause to collect his thoughts, speaking formally in front of others like this wasn't his strong-suit but for the Namikaze family he would do his best.

"He suddenly shouted out 'Shut up Karuma! I can handle it!' When we asked him about Karuma, he told us that it was the name of the Kyuubi, and that he had been giving him pointers on better chakra control."

"Are there any problems with his seal?" Choza asked. He was adept at seals, not nearly as good as Minato or Jiraiya, but enough to where he could comprehend them.

"I inspected the seal myself last night while he slept and everything is intact. The seal is designed to allow some interface between the two of them. Kushina's functions the same way. It will even allow the Bijuu to send Naruto some of his chakra." Minato answered.

"But can't it send too much and break the seal?" Asuma asked.

Danzo inwardly smiled, as he thought the conversation was going his way.

"Not possible," Choza answered, "Naruto would have to willingly remove the seal and release the Kyuubi."

Danzo was getting worried now. He'd underestemated Choza's knowledge of Fuinjutsu. If Minato had been the one to reply he could have said he was just trying to protect his son and hiding facts. _Damn that Akamichi._

Inoichi spoke up next, "Personally, I don't see an issue here. I think I speak for us all when I say thank you for informing us and clearing up any concerns Hokage-sama."

"Agreed, this whole meetings been troublesome but it prevented anyone from panicing. Thank you Obito-san for presenting only facts and no opinions." As he said the last bit he shot a glare at Danzo who simply ignored it.

Everyone nodded in agreement, "Well then I hear-by end this council meeting"

Everyone stood up, but no one, except for Danzo and Asuma, left and instead they all began talking about their kids who were starting the academy soon. After sever hours, and exponentially more 'my-kid-can-beat-up-your-kid'-s everyone left, eager for the following Monday; which would signal the begining of their kid's ninja careers.

Meanwhile in the Legion of Doom

Just kidding (haha?)

Meanwhile Beneath Konoha

Danzo paced back and forth in his dimly lit, circualar room.

"I can't beleive I messed this up!" he shouted! "You'd better make sure I get another chance at him before he graduates, Tiger!"

Mizuki was leaning with his back against the wall, annoyed by the pacing of the 'criple'.

"Don't worry Danzo-sama," he stated with a grin, "I'll get you another chance, but you'd better not mess the next one up."

_I will have the Kyuubi under my control, _Danzo thought angrily, _And when I do, I will become Hokakge!_

A/N And Done! Man, did that feel good. Got some foreshadowing, a mild cliff hanger, some politics, a little bit more on the story up to this point. I feel accomplished so I'm gonna celebrate with some ramen!

As always, Feedback is welcome. So, review, favorite, etc. And again to everyone who has reviewed, thank you! It really does mean a lot!

Also, I'm taking votes on Jounin instructors starting now

Choices are as follows:

Itachi

Obito

Kakashi

I will tally them up and write whichever one wins!

Anyways guys, until next time

-surrealcereal

*Quick note: my name is kind of an insde joke between me and a friend of mine who, whenever he tries to say surreal basically says cereal. haha.

ok not that funny but it is to me.

LATER


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto:

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 4

**A/N:** What's going on everyone, just so everyone knows the voting is closed now for the voting on Naruot's sensei and I'm disapointed by the lack of votes I got.

Also, this is not a harem. It will not be a harem, but this chapter might have a couple parts that could say otherwise. So no harem. Clear? Clear.

And I really want to give a shout out to someone who's been reading, reviewing and correcting me since chapter 1.

NarutoKushina

You're awesome man, and I really appreciate all the help you've given me and I really hope you enjoy the chapter. Also, thanks for the coupling idea. I honestly had never thought of this girl as an option, but when you said it a light went off in my head and I just went "YES!"

Now that all of the has been said, please review and favorite!

Disclamer:

The followng is Non-profit fan based parody. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT are all owned by Funimation, Toey Animaton, Fuji TV and Akira Toriama. Please support the official release.

Wait... Wrong series.

Naruto had barely slept the night before due to his excitement. His parents had always told him stories about their time in the academy and he couldn't wait. Since he was still up, he had decided to check all of his gear, polish his kunai, and make sure there weren't any holes in his gear.

Kakashi had come by the day before and gave Naruto a "good luck" present. Naruto thought that the occassion was kind of lame, but the present itself was awesome and he couldn't wait to show it off.

The sun was coming up now and Naruto started getting ready. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and got dressed.

He had decided to wear a gray hoodie with an orange Symbol of the Leaf on the back, a plain black pair of pants, and black sandals. He then donned Kakashi's gift, put on his weapon pouch and walked down stairs, where the smell of pancakes was coming from.

"Good Morning, Naruto-kun!" Kushina said as she heard him enter the room.

"Moring Kaa-san!" Naruto said as he took a seat at the table.

"Ready for your first day?" Minato asked, not looking up from his newspaper.

"Sure am! I checked all my gear, plus I got this awesome gift from Kakashi last nght!" the blonde child shouted excitedly.

Minato put down his paper and was about ask what the silver haired nin had given the boy, until he saw his son's face. Naruto was wearing a face mask like Kakashi's, except Naruto's was black. But Minato had to admit that it didn't look bad on his son, but the blonde hair was still a dead giveawy to who he was.

Kushina already knew what the gift was because Kakashi had asked if it was okay for him to give it to Naruto. She smiled at her son and tousled his hair. "It looks good on you." She said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks kaa-san!" Naruto said, visibly smiling under the mask.

Minato looked up at the clock, "Oh shit," he started and the looked at his wife, "breakfast is gonna have to be to-go. He's gonna be late"

Kushina handed Naruto some toast, "Be good Naruto."

"I will Kaa-san. Let's go Tou-san!" And with that the two blondes flashed out of the kitchen.

_I'm Going to have to remind him not to cuss in front of Naruto again... _Kushina thought to herself, with an evil smile on her face.

The two blondes arrived at the Academy and immediately people began whispering about Naruto. The only few who weren't were the members of the council, but that didn't stop their kids. Some were speaking louder than others, but the whispering always bothered Naruto. He wanted to be recognized for himself, not his dad. Don't get it wrong, he loved his dad. Sometimes though, he wishes his dad weren't so famous.

The thing was, he was never called Naruto. He was always called the Hokage's Son. He just wanted one chance to step out from his dad's shadow and become even greater. That's why his dream was to become Hokage. Not just any Hokage though, the best Hokage.

KIT, I KNOW THE WHISPERING BOTHERS YOU BUT YOU NEED TO RELAX A BIT.

I know, but I can't help it.

I KNOW KIT, BUT JUST REMEMBER WHAT YOU TOLD ME THE FIRST TIME WE TALKED.

-Flashback-

Naruto had been practicing his tree climbing excersize when he fell asleep. He knew he had used up way too much chakra but he still wasn't able to get to the top of the tree. He was being called a genius by his parents for making as far up the tree as he did, but he wanted to make it to the top.

When he opened his eyes, he was expecting to wake up in the grove he had been practicing in.

_Where am I? _He thought to himself as he took in his surroundings. He was was laying in a long hallway that had water on the ground. Torches lined the walls giving it some light, but it was still dim. Naruto sat up and saw a giant gate before him and in the center of it was a piece of paper with the kanji for sel written on it. All he could see on the other side of the gate was darkness.

What is that?

Just then, a gigantic red eye opened on the other side of the gate. Naruto noticed that the eye ws slitted as it glared down at him.

SO YOU FINALLY DECIDE TO AKNOWLEDGE ME EH, KIT?

Naruto could now see on the other side of the gate where the Kyuubi was laying, just looking at him.

DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM, KIT?

_No, what's your name? _Naruto asked with a grin.

The Kyuubi just sat there dumbstruck. He had planned on how to scare the child who had become his prison for 6 years now. He had prepeaired an answer to just about any way the boy in front of him would react, except for this one.

You want to know my name? Not what I am?

_Well obviously you're the Kyuubi! _the blonde boy said as he crossed his legs while he sat.

THEN YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO I AM!

_But I don't know your name! _Naruto said to the fox with a serious look on his face. _How are we supposed to be friends if I don't even know your name?!_

The Bijuu could have sworn he'd misheard that **_THIS his kid wants to be friends with me? _**The Bijuu smiled inwardly as he remembered the sage who had once been his frien.

I'll tell you kit, but only because you remind me of someone.

_Really?! Who?! _Naruto asked excitedly.

That's a story for another time kit, but my name is Karuma.

_Mine's Namikaze Naruto! Nice to meet you Karuma! _Naruto said, with his signature ear-to-ear grin firmly on his face.

So why do you want to be friends with me Naruto?

Because a Hokage should be friends with everyone in the village! And I'm gonna be the best of them all!-ttebayo!

Karuma just smiled at the boy in front of him. **_He's just like the old man._**

Then we need to get you to the top of that tree, why don't you try doing it like this-

He then told Naruto some of the tips and tricks he had picked up from watching his previous Jinchuriki and since then he's been helping Naruto whenever he's needed it.

-End Flashback-

You're right Karuma-kun. I should go introduce myself.

Naruto walked over the boy and smiled. "Hey! I'm Namikaze Naruto! What's your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." The boy replied, still glaring at the blonde boy standing in front of him.

"Nice to meet you!" And with that Naruto held out his hand, but Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned away from the blond letting out a "Pfft"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. Here he was trying to be nice to this guy and he just blows him off. Two girls saw the interaction and immediately saw their opportunity to make a move. The hugged Naruto on either side, holding themselves to him. _Now what?_ The blonde bou inwardly rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry about that jerk!" The blonde girl on his right said, well more like shouted as she stuck out her tongue at Sasuke who just blew her off.

"Yeah!" The pink haired girl on his left said in agreement. "We'll be your friends! I'm Haruno Sakura and that's Yamanaka Ino."

Damn fangirls...

Karuma began to chuckle at the pathetic display he was watching the two girls put on, who were trying desperately to get Naruto's attention.

_Shut up! It's not funny! _Naruto shouted at the fox.

**IT'S FUNNIER THAN YOU REALIZE KIT! **Karuma replied before resuming his laughter.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Namikaze Naruto." Naruto replied, trying to keep his eyebrow from twitching in iritation.

After all of that it was a fairly standard day at school. Mizuki had everyone introduce themselves and was asked to give a breif descrition of their abilities.

Sasuke had thought he was going to be top of the class when that came around, but when Naruto began listing all of the jutsu he could do Sasuke began to grind his teeth. Ino and Sakura just kept sighing _"He's so cool.."_

Naruto saw all of this and just sweatdropped. _He's jelous and needs and wants to inflate his ego some more, and they're just helpless idiots._

True but if you want to become hokage you'll need his support and the Yamanaka heiress's.

Don't remind me.

After class was out for the day Mizuki stopped Naruto to ask him a few questions. _This might be my chance._

"Naruto, was that list accurate?" Mizuki asked him.

"Yeah, why?" NAruto asked with a puzzled look on his face, but the mask made it harder to see.

"Well, if that's the case you shouldn't be in this class."

"What do you mean?" Naruto was now really confused and the look was evident on his face, even if it was covered by his mask.

"Well you see you're extremely gifted and I think you could be ready for graduation honestly." Mizuki wasn't lying. He really thought Naruto could graduate today if he wanted.

"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Kit, be cautious of this one. I feel like he's baiting a trap.

"Yeah, but there's a special graduation test for you to graduate early."

Naruto played along, pretending to be ensnared by the obvious bait. "Well what is it?"

Mizuki smiled inwardly _The kid may be a prodigy but he's still naive. _"All you have to do is take scroll out of the Hokage's library.

Naruto and Karuma both sighed. How sly did this guy think he was? Naruto was the Hokage's son and knew that stealing something like that would have severe consequences.

"Sure! I can do that no problem!" Naruto was still playing along with this. He wanted to know why this guy wanted him to get into trouble. _A teacher shouldn't be setting his students up for failure like this._

Agreed.

"Good, then bring it to me by midnight tonight at the top of the Hokage Mountain." Mizuki said with a smile, thinking he had just won his prize.

With him in this kind of trouble, there's no way Danzo-sama couldn't get him into ROOT on the grounds of teaching him discipline.

Naruto immediately went to the Hokage Tower to see his dad. Something was wrong and he wanted to know what. He told Minato everything he knew and about the entire interaction between him and Mizuki.

Minato began to pace back and forth. "If we do this right, it could very easily be one of the most beneficial political power shifts in my time as Hokage."

"Huh?" Naruto asked looking sceptical. Minato called his secretary and asked her to send someone to get Iruka-sensei for him.

"Naruto, I'm going to tell you something. This is an A-Ranked sercret, ok?" Minato asked, looking at his son with a serious expression on his face. "Mizuki is working for Danzo. He's a part of his ROOT corps. When I learned of this I demoted Iruka-sensei from jounin to chunin and sent him to the academy to spy on him."

Minato paused to make sure his son was able to comprehend all this, "I want Danzo off the council but I havn't had any chances to due to the lack of evidence. You may be able to get me that so I'm going to assign you and Iruka a mission once he arrives."

Naruto nodded in aknowledgement justas Iruka Shunshin-ed into the room. "Hokage-sama, you're secretary said it's urgent. What's the problem."

Minato looked at Iruka and began retelling him the story Naruto had told him. Naruto occassionally spoke up to go into greater detail about certain things, but for the most part just stayed quiet.

"So if we have him take the scroll and met Mizuki," Iruka thought outloud, "we could have a Hyuuga follow Mizuki when he goes to report to Danzo."

"After I receive word that it's been stolen, I'll despatch the norml search party to look for Naruto and schedule the council meeting for tomorrow with an ungiven reason."Minato continued.

"Which means Mizuki will have to tell Danzo tonight in order for him to plan effectively for it. And the Hyuuga reports everything back to you." Iruka continued.

"This just might work.." Minato thought out loud as he went over everything in his head again. _We might finally hve a shot to take this son-of-a-bitch down._

Minato looked at his son, still being serious. "Namikaze Naruto, this is an A-Ranked mission. Unfortunately you do not have the option to decline. You are ordered to infiltrate the Hokage Tower tonight and steal a scroll from my library. You will then meet with Mikuzi and deliver the scroll to him. Afterwards, you will evade search parties for as long as you can. I will give them the order not to seriously injure you, but to stop you by force."

Minato wasn't his tou-san right now. For the time being he was Hokage-sama and Naruto knew that. Naruto bowed to his dad before uttering "Hai Hokage-sama."

"Iruka, I would like for you to be the one to catch him. I know you can't guarantee that you will, but please try." Minto was looking at Iruka as he said this.

Iruka bowed his head and said "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Dismissed." Minato said to the two and the both Shunshin-ed out of the room.

Naruto had some time to kill before the "theft" so he decided to head to his favorite restraunt in the entire village, Ichiraku Ramen. He'd been coming here with his parents for a while and the owner, Teuchi, was always nice to him. He always called him by his name and only gave him special treatment because he was a frequent customer, which was usually just an extra piece of meat in hs ramen.

Teuchi had a daughter named Ayame who was close to the same age as Naruto. He had a bit of a crush on her but was always too bashful to act on it, but not today. He'd gotten his first mission and he had always said when he gets his first mission he'd ask her on a date.

He was nervous as he walked up to the counter and took a seat.

Teuchi didn't even have to look up to know who it was, "The usual, Naruto?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah." Naruto said as he poked the tips of his fingers together.

Teuchi just smiled as he made the food for he blonde. _Guess today's gonna be the day. _Naruto and Ayame had liked eachother for a while now, but both of them were too scared to do anything. He had watched the two of them for a while and he knew Naruto was a good boy.

He smiled with his back to Naruto, "She'll be back in just a moment, just be good to her, okay?"

Naruto's face turned a bright red and he looked down at his toes. _How did he know?!_

Just then a girl with brown hair came in and said "I'm home Tou-san!" The girl then saw the blonde boy sitting at the counter and her face turned red. "Oh, I didn't know you were here Naruto-kun."

Ayame sat with the blonde boy as he ate and talked to him about his first day at the Academy. They had a few laughs but Ayame got visibly upset when Naruto told her about Sakura and Ino.

"Now or never Naruto." Teuchi said, smiling at the blonde boy.

Seriously, what the hell? How does he know so much?!

It's because he's older and wiser, Kit.

Guess so, but why is he helping me?

Maybe he likes the idea of you dating his daughter.

Naruto looked at the girl i front of im, before he turned away blushing.

"So.. uh Ayame-chan.." the blonde boy started, still looking away. _I can do this-ttebayo. _"Would you.. wanna go on a date with me?"

Ayame couldn't beleive her ears. _Did Naruto really just ask me out? Really?_

"Uh.. Sure." She relpied looking down at the floor and turning bright red.

Naruto smiled and ran off leaving a still blushing Ayame and a laughing Teuchi. _He's a good kid. _Teuchi thought as he laughed when suddenly a familiar voice rang out through the village.

"SHE SAID YES-TTEBAYO!"

This caused Ayame and Teuchi both to laugh when they heard it.

-Later That Evening-

Naruto had the scroll from the Hokage's Library and was almost at the top of the Mountain. When he got there Mizuki was waiting for him.

"Do you have the scroll Naruto?" Mizuki asked the blonde, acting as if everything were normal. He knew everything he was doing right now was illegal but Naruto was just a kid in his mind, there was no way he could figure out he was lying.

Naruto pulled a scroll out of his pocket, "I have it right here Mizuki-sensei."

"Well congratulations Naruto," the silver haired nin said as he pulled out a hitai-ate and handed it to Naruto. "Just give me the scroll and I'll put it back in the Hokage Tower for you."

"Here you go, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto said as he handd him the scroll and looked down at the hitai-ate he held in his hand. _Soon I'll have one of these for real. _"Thank you for teaching me" He said with a bow, "When will I join my genin team?"

"You'll join them when they graduate at the end of the year." Mizuki said with a smile. "You'll be able to continue training and start doing D-Ranked missions until then." Mizuki's list of lies was getting longer and longer. Soon, he knew, one would contradict another and even an idiot like Naruto would be able to figure it out. _I need to meet with Danzo-sama and make my report._

"Well Naruto, I'll be seeing you." And with that and a small wave, Mizuki ran off into the night.

_It's up to everyone else now. _Naruto thought as he looked up at the sky. He then darted off into the night to try and find Iruka-sensei. He would just have to keep clear of everyone else.

It didn't take him too long to find Iruka and Naruto was escorted back to the Hokage tower, where he would be staying until the Council Meeting.

Mizuki entered the familiar, dimly lit room. He walked to the center of the room and bowed his head. "Danzo-sama, I have news to report."

Hana Hyuuga had been the one asked to follow Mizuki, she was told by her husband, Hiashi, that she was being asked for by name by the Hokage due to her experience on intel gathering and infiltration. _How could I saw no to that? _

"What is it you have to report, Mizuki?" Danzo asked, slightly annoyed, "I have a Council Meeting tomorrow morning and was tryig to get some rest." Neither of the two men were aware of Hana, so she pulled out a scroll and a brush and began writting down what the two men were saying.

"Sir, the meeting tomorrow wil be the chance you've been waiting for." Mizuki said proudly. "I've tricked Naruto into stealing a scroll from the Hokage's Library."

Danzo was livid, "You made a move without my approval! You idiot! This could very well be the end of me!" As he said this Hana shunshin-ed away, back to the Hokage Tower. She had all the evidence she needed. Now all that was left was to give it to the Hokage and make sure Hinanta and Hanabi were still sleep.

She delivered it to Minato who politely thanked her and told her she would need to be present at the meeting the following morning. She nodded and went back to the Hyuuga estate. When she was gone Minato looked over the scroll and sent out four of his personal ANBU to stand guard Hana until tomorrow. He then drew a few marks on his left arm and sealed the scroll there until he needed it.

So Danzo is aware, huh? He will either flee or try to lie his way out of this. There's no room for error on this one.

Naruto had arrived a while ago, his hands bound by chakra ropes, and was now sleeping in Minato's office chair.

_Now what do I do about you? _He had given an A-Ranked, undercover mission to someone who wasn't even a genin yet. There would have to be some kind of reward. He saw the hitai-ate his son was holding as he slept and Minto smiled warmly. _That just might work._ he walked over and tousled his son's hair, his pride evident on his face.

"Thank you, Naruto."

-The Next Moring-

The clan heads that made up the council arrived a few minutes early and saw Naruto, Iruka, and Hana standing outside the door. Hiashi smiled warmly to his wife before walking in while Naruto was receiving glares from everyone. Naruto knew they didn't know about the details yet, so he let it go and just kept his calm demeanor.

Not much later, Danzo came walking up with a beaten-up Mizuki in chakra ropes behind him.

"Wait here, filth." He spat at Mizuki while glaring at him with a icy glare. He walked into the room and it wasn't long after that all four of the were called in.

"See Hokage-sama, I had brought you the real culprit." Danzo said as Mizuki walked in.

Mizuki just kept looking at the floor, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes.

"Naruto," Minato said, "Report."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Naruto then recounted the previous day's event to everyone and Danzo began to feel the tension in the room begin to rise as he told them how he had been lied to by someone who was supossed to be an instructor. After Naruto finished, Minato looked at Iruka.

"Iruka, reprt." Minato said, he was now watching Danzo intently. The last thing he needed was for hi to become agressive in the office, but not long into Iruka's report was everyone staring at Danzo.

_This isn't good. _Danzo thought to himself as he felt sweat rolling off of him.

Once Iruka finished, Minato unsealed the scroll on his arm. "Hana, report."

He wanted to keep this fast, before Danzo had a chance to think of a way out of this.

Once Hana finished giving her report, the council was in an uproar. Just about everyone in attendence was shouting obcenities at Danzo and Mizuki until the Hokage quited them all down. Even then though, they were still sending cold, unforgiving glares at them.

"Danzo and Mizuki,"Minato spoke up as he pulled off the red and white hat he was wearing, "For crimes against Konohagakure, myself, and my family you are here-by exiled from the village and a Kill-On-Sight order will be given if you are found within the border of Fire Country. You will not be allowed any time to gather your belongings and my ANBU will escort you to the gate. Now get the hell out of my vilage!" Minato yelled the last bit as he remembered their target was his son, and he would do anything he could to protect him.

Several ANBU came in and collected the two shell-shocked men and escorted them to the gate as villagers whispered around them. Both of the men just stared at the ground, they had already been humiliated enough today and decided not to try the Yondaime's patience.

-Back at the meeting still in progress-

The council looked at the three, several with appologetic looks in their eyes towards Naruto.

"So how do rewrd these three?" Minato asked.

Tsume spoke up first, "I say promotions for all three!"

Everyone at the council began cheering in agreement.

Minato cleared his throat to quiet everyone down. "Umino Iruka, I restore your Jounin status. Report to me tomorrow for your first mission as such."

Iruka siled and bowed, "Hai, Hokage-sama"

"Hyuuga Hana, you are here-by given the rank of Jounin. Report with Iruka tomorrow for your first mission."

Minato paused and smiled at his son who was trying to hand him the hitai-ate he had been given the day before. "I'm still an academy student so I can't be promoted yet."

Minato put his hand on his son's head "Namikaze Naruto, your abailites are far beyond that of a standard academy student. So I let the gradution decission set for you by Mizuki stand. Minato was smiling down at his son who was looking up at him with a look of pure happines with a hint of disbelief. "Report to my office tomorrow morning to meet the rest of your team."

Naruto jumped up and hugged his dad who had to be reminded that he was still at a council meeting and that it wasn't the time to be goofing off with his son. Minato dismissed the meeting and was drug through the village to Ichiraku Ramen so Naruto could show Ayame his hitai-ate.

-Meanwhile Somewhere Outside the Village-

Dazo couldn't beleive he'd just been exiled. _The nerve of that Namikaze brat! I swear I'll make him pay!_

Just then a figure jumped out of trees and onto the path in front of him. He had bright orange hair and wore a black robe that had red clouds on it. Danzo also noticed that the man had several facial piercings. "Do you want revenge against the leaf?" the man asked.

Danzo tried to walk past him, "What business is it of yours?"

"We can help you." And with that Donzo stopped.

"You're Akatsuki, right?" Danzo asked, looking at the man's strange eyes.

"We are." was all the man replied.

"I'm in." Danzo said with a smile.

"Then together, we will show them pain."

A/N: WAIT WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! HAHA oh man this capter felt good, i stayed up late so there might be a few parts less etailed than others but still. Damn this one was long. Voting for Naruto's sensei is still open for another 2 days. Voting closes at 1 PM EST 4/30/15. Again guys please review, favorite, anything to let me know you're enjoying it. Also if you have a story you'd like e to read, I'd be more than happy to give you some feedback just send me the link.

Until Next Time,

-SurrealCereal


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 6

A/N Just to let everyone know while I'm writting this my brother is sitting in the bed beside me helping me. He's doing great and after a few months of physical theropy he'll be good as new. Like I said, he'll be released on Saturday and I couldn't be happier about it. Side note today was my birthday and I was almost ran over by some asshole who was trying to get away from a robbery.

Fun day, right?

But anyways, let me welcome you to the long overdue chapter 6 of Pride of the Leaf. My brother wants to write the disclamer so please excuse the profanity in advance.

We don't own Naruto bitches!

Alright then, with that said let's get to this!

What! What!

(Again my brother)

END A/N

Naruto stood at the familiar training grounds, the ground still scarred from his recent spar with Obito. Several trees were still charred or fallen over from the ferocity of the match. No one was there to bother Naruto as he pondered over who his new team would consist of. He had heard that an Uchiha had been sent back to the Academy, he figured that he would be replacing them on his team.

Just then his father flashed in front of him in his trademark jacket with "Yondaime" on the back of it.

"Is your sensei here yet Naruto?" his dad asked as he walked over to his son.

"Not yet, Tou-san." the blonde boy replied with a slightly agitated tone, "Who's my sensei anyways?"

"That would be me." Obito said as he landed in the center of the field with two kids slightly older than Naruto. One was a boy who looked slightly familir to Naruto, only because he cringed every time he saw the green spande the boy was always wearing. He knew the boy couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, but his taijutsu was well above all but one jounin, Miato Gai. Appearantly the boy had been mentoired by Gai since he was young. His taijutsu was so incredible that they allowed him to graduate early without taking the standard graduation test. The other kid standing with Obito was Inuzuka Hana. Naruto recognized her right off the bat. They had played together as kids while their parents were in council meetings. She had her puppy, Akariko, laying on the top of her head. Naruto had noticed when they were younger that Hana wasn't like most Inuzuka's, she was calm and collected unlike her younger brother and mother who were much more excentric.

"Sorry, we're late. We stopped to help an old lady cross the street." Obito said with a smile as he scratched the back of his head.

"And I can use the sharingan." Naruto said as he rolled his eyes.

"Obito-sensei is telling the truth!" Lee shouted as he raised his hand into the air while his entire body went stiff as a board.

Hana just shook her head and sighed as she watched Lee's defend their sensei. Minato just smiled at the familiar scene before him and he remembered his students when they were still kids.

Just as Minato was getting lost in his nastalgia Kakashi and Rin walked up to the training grounds.

"Minato-sensei." Kakashi and Rin said as they arrived.

"Yo! Kakashi! Rin!" Minato said as he waved at the two. "Are you guys here to see the test too?"

"Yeah," Rin said with a sigh, "Kakashi wanted to see Gai's protege in action."

"Then why are you here Rin?" asked a clearly agrivated Obito.

"To make sure you dont get hurt." she said, matching his tone.

"Like these kids can hurt me." Obito said proud of himself.

"Naruto could hold his own against you without help. Now you're adding an Inuzuka and young Gai into the mix. You'll be lucky to last five minutes if you fight with that attitude." Kakashi said in a lecturing tone.

Obito knew what he was getting himself into. This wasn't going to be like any genin team he'd seen before. Hana already knew basic medical ninjutsu, Lee was a taijutsu genius, and Naruto was the biggest power house to come out of the academy since Itachi.

Obito waved Kakashi off before turning to his students who were discussing strategy already. _Damn, Naruto is lready giving himself a leg up in this..._

"So, the goal of this test is for you to take a bell off my waist." Obito said as he pulled out a single bell. "Two of you have already passed this and know the reason behind the two bells, so this time I'll just be using one. If you don't get it, you dont pass. Simple enough?"

The three genin nodded in agreement.

"Very well then" Obito said as he activated his Sharingan, "Begin!"

Naruto rushed at him right off the bat and engaged with Obito in a taijutsu match while Hana and Lee flanked their sensei.

_Going for the win already? _Obito thought to himself as he landed a kick to Naruto's jaw, only for him to disapear in a puff of smoke.

Then where's the real one?

As if to answer his question, behind him Lee began flashing through handseals.

_Henge with shadow clones? When?! _Obito thought frantically as he charged at Lee, not giving him time to finish the jutsu he was prepairing. Obito landed a punch in Lee's gut, causing him to disapear in a cloud of smoke. Suddenly he heard a sound coming from his right. He turned to the source of the noise only to barely dodge a kunai that zipped right by his face.

"Dyamic Entry!" Lee shouted as he felt the satisfying crunch of his foot making contact with Obito's jaw. Obito flew through the air and into the surrounding forest. He stood up slowly, assessing the amount of damage the unexpected kick had done. He looked around and began to take in his surroundings when he saw Hana running away from hi and deeper into the forest. He ran after her and he tought he was being careful in his chase, but he still set off a trip wire flash bomb.

He stood there rubbing his eyes, trying to clear his vision. He didn't even have time to get his eyes closed before the flash went off. His vision had just strted to clear when he felt cold metal against his throat.

"Surrender, Obito-sensei." Naruto said in a calm voice as he removed the bell from his sensei's hip.

"Fine, fine. You guys win." Obito said as he put his hands up over his head. "That was a nice bit of strategy there, Naruto."

"Well I did get a few pointers from Shikaku." Naruto said as he grinned.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Obito said as he returned the smile and scratched the back of his head. Hana and Lee then walked up with smiles on their faces.

"Naruto, that was a very youthful strategy!" Lee shouted while standing at attention.

"I don't know abot youthful, but it was very well thought out." Hana replied, looking sceptically at Lee.

"And you guys are going to need that kind of thinking for what I have to tell you next." Obito said, now talking in a serious tone. "Gai and I were talking and we've come to the conclusion that you guys could very easily take the upcoming chuunin exams taking place next month."

Lee's face lit up as he felt the praise of their skill in the words, but he didn't fully comprehend what this meant. Naruto and Hana traded looks of worry with eachother before Naruto said, "But Obito-sensei, we havn't met the requirments to participate yet."

"I know," Obito said now letting a smile form on his face, "So for the next month we're all going to go by this schedule:

8am-11am D-rank missions

11am-11:30am Lunch

11:30am-2pm D-rank missions

2pm-5pm training, and I mean training. It'll make Gai's training look like a picnic."

Naruto and Lee both gulped before getting somewhat excited.

"5pm-6pm dinner

6pm-9pm will change depending on whether or not you guys need more missions or more training."

"So we're either training, eating, sleeping, or doing missions until these exams?" Hana asked.

"Yep." Obito replied.

Naruto felt a small but of gloom fall over him. He and Ayame had just started dating and he wanted to spend time with her, but with Obito's schedule there wouldn't be any time for it.

_Unless... _Naruto thought up a plan and after checking with Karuma on how well it would work, let a small foxy grin cross his face.

Now you're thinking, Kit.

A/N I know guys, short chapter. I'm sorry. Please just bear with me a bit longer while we get my brother adjusted. On the plus side I've already got the next chapter swarming around in my head and I can't wait to put it to paper. It will be mostly comedy and will pick up from this exact spot, so it'll be like a pt 2 to this chapter. I just wanted to show you guys I am still writting and rewar you a bit for your patience.

Next time on Naruto: the Pride of the Leaf

"NARUTO DID WHAT TO BECOME A GENIN?" Kushina shouted.

Crap, I relly wish I hadn't let that slip...

"We will continue to bide our time, Donzo. We don't need to forget that the Yondaime Hokage will defend his son. They will know pain when the time is right."

"Naruto!" Hana shouted as the blonde boy she just slapped disapeared into a cloud of smoke.

Somewhere not to far away, Naruto could be seen running yelling "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap..." with Ayame right behind him. "Dont't let her catch me!"

All this and more in the next chapter!

Until then! Later!

-SurrealCereal


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto: The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter: 6

A/N: Just to let everyone know my brother is home now. He's having trouble getting around and he's on crutches but he's feeling fine and he's still being the same son-of-a-bitch he's always been. Haha.

Thanks to everyone who messaged me or reviewed about that and wished my brother well. It means a lot. Again I'm sorry about that long update time but hopefully this chapter makes up for it. I'm really excited to be back to work and back to writting.

So just a quick explanation, based off what I found online and have read from the manga there are requirements that need to be met for a team to participate in the chuunin exams. A curious reader asked a couple of questions about them and I want to take a moment to answer them.

#1. Time- from my understandig there is a time requirement but it is wavable based on the skill and missions completed by the team.

#2 Missions- they must have completed a certain number of missions. The number is vague and agrue-able from the informtion attained from the manga so I'm just gonna make a number up that sounds reasonable.

That's it, no age reqirement or any ability requirements. Those are left at the discretion of their jounin-sensei.

Thank you for presenting the question properly :)

Please everyone, Favorite/Review/Whatever just let me know what you think.

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto. But if I did, it would've been drawn with stick people.

On to the story!

End A/N

Obito stood outside of the Namikaze compound with a mildly puzzled look on his face. Naruto was currently leading Lee and Hana through a few D-Ranks Obito had picked up that morning while he was here. Kushina had sent a message through Naruto that she wanted to speak to him. He had feeling it was gonna be a talk about not letting anything happening to Naruto, but with Kushina he never knew what to expect.

He steeled himself as he walked in. He saw Kushina making some tea as she greated him.

"Hello Obito." Kushina said. It was in that all too familiar tone that shook Obito to his core.

Oh, shit...

"Hello Kushina." He replied as he took a seat at the table.

"Would you like some tea?"

"No thank you." He didn't trust it at this point. _She's pissed... _The only time Kushina ever made tea for anyone was when she was absolutely livid with the person she offered it to. It was their guaranteed signal to keep her calm.

"So Obito," Kushina started off i that same sweet, but evil tone, " Why hasn't Naruto been coming home until late a night? He's tired, sore and usually just collapses into bed."

"He's getting ready for the chunin exams." Obito stated but upon seeing Kushina's expression he needed to defend himself and quick. "He's definately ready! I mean, you know he had to help bring down Donzo and Mizuki to become genin! He's more than able to handle himself!"

Kushina saw red, from her understanding Naruto graduated because Minato pulled some string and let him take the standard test. Minato had lied to her to protect himself. And. She. Was. Pissed. The enitre village heard the next words that came out of her mouth, and al cringed in fear, but none more-so than two blondes who shared the exact same thought. _Shit.._

"NARUTO DID WHAT TO BECOME A GENIN?!" Kushina screamed.

_I really wish I hadn't let that slip... _Obito thought as he fled from the house with an extremely pissed off Kushina right on his heels.

"MINATO! NARUTO!" Kushina yelled a she chased Obito through the village streets, "AS SOON AS I'M DONE WITH OBITO I'M COMING AFTER THE TWO OF YOU!"

_Sorry Minato-sensei! _Obito thought as he ran. He didn't notice it at the time, but while he was running he happened to pass three people who looked onto the scene and laughed. Well two of them laughed. One of them was being kind-of a buzz kill.

"Kinda takes you back to the good ol' days, eh hime?"

"Indeed it does."

"This is no time for reminising you two! The hokage is waiting on us!"

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the village, three genin where chasing around a cat that seemed to have a personal vendeta against a certain blonde haired ninja.

"Damn that cat!" Naruto shouted with scratch marks all over his face. They had been chasing Tora around the village for about twenty minutes now. Madame Shijimi had reported her cat as being lost for the fifth time in under a week and yet again they had been assigned to catch the poor thing and bring him back to the Daimo's wife. They felt bad for the little guy but it was still a job that they had to do.

"If you keep on scaring him like that of course he's gonna run!" Hana yelled at Naruto.

"Idiot! He's running because of your damn mutt!" Naruto shouted. Naruto instantly regretted his decission. Lee stood there shocked. He had never heard Naruto say anything like this and everyone knows never to insult a ninja dog of the Inuzuka's.

"She's not a mutt, idiot! She's a fully bred ninja dog! A dumbass like you couldn't see that though!" Hana yelled getting right in Naruto's face.

Lee just stood there watching and trying to calm everyone down but was completely unsucessful.

"Or maybe she just takes after her master and is a total bitch!" Naruto shouted as he got right in Hana's face. He regretted picking the fight but he wasn't about to back down now.

This was one of only a few time's Lee had ever seen either of the two frustrated, but neither of them had ever been this angry. And neither of them had been angry at the same time. _Damn cat..._

But Naruto had made the mistake Hana was going to let him get away with. She reared back and punched him square in the jaw. Naruto started to fall backwards and Lee just stood there in shock becuse he was definately not prepaired for what happened next.

"Naruto!" Hana shouted at the top of her lungs as the blonde boy she just punched disapeared in a cloud of smoke. "You are so dead when I find you!"

A few moments earlier, in a tree beside the village gate

Naruto, the real one, was sitting beside Ayame on a branch. They were watching people as they entered and exited the village. She was restng her head on his shoulder while the held hands and talked. He was his usual happy-go-lucky self. She had no idea Naruto was supposed to be doing missions right then so when Naruto suddenly jumped out of the tree repeatedly saying "Shit" while walking around frantically it had her paniced as well.

"What's wrong?" Ayame asked, trying to figure out what caused Naruto's sudden change.

"She's going to kill me! Why would I say something so stupid?" Naruto was now pacing back and forth now while face-palming.

"Who's going to kill you?" Ayame asked. Naruto was just about to answer until he saw something that seemed to frighten him to his very core. Ayame turned to see what had scared her boyfriend so badly. She really wished she hadn't.

Kushina was walking up with an unconcious Obito thrown over her shoulder. She had a sweet, motherly smile on her face but you could still tell she was pissed from the veins popping out of her forhead.

"So Naruto, how exactly did you become a genin?" Kushina asked as she dropped Obito to the ground with a thud.

Kit... Run!

"Don't let her catch me!" Naruto shouted as he ran away. Ayame was only a few feet behind him. Both were running frantically through the village with an extremely pissed off Kushina right behnd them.

"GET BACK HERE NARUTO!" Kushina shouted as she chased after her son.

Naruto tried to round a corner and accidentally ran into someone. He started to appologize until he saw who it was.

"Hey Naruto." Hana said in a tone that reminded him of his mother's. "Where have you been all day?" She was smiling and cracking her knuckles.

Naruto ut his hads up and backed away from her slowly. "Oh hey Hana!" he said in a shakey, terrified voice, "I was just on my way to -"

He was cut off by Kushina sreaming while running up behind him "GET BAK HERE YOU LITTLE!"

"Later!" he yelled as he ran off, trying to avoid them at all costs.

Ayame was now confused, she joined the other two so she could chase him down and get him to explain what was going on.

This can't possibly get any worse...

No sooner than he finished the thought in his head did he run into someone, an older man in his 50's with grey hair carrying a giant scroll on his back and a blode woman with a diamond on her forehead and massive boobs.

The three fell to the ground in a small circle.

"Watch where you're going you damn brat!" the woman yelled at Naruto. "By the way you dropped this." She picked up a small, orange, paperback book off the ground and was about to hand it to Naruto until she realized what it was.

"Jiraiya! You idiot!" Tsunade yelled as she punched the toad sanin and sent him flying into near-by building. "Now for you." She said as she tore the book in half while facing Naruto. She cracked her knuckles and charged at him.

Naruto through a smoke bomb at his feet and jumped up to the roof. _Why'd she have to tear it in half!? _

He jumped from rooftop to rooftop and soon every woman in the village had heard of Naruto's mischief. He found himself being chased by a mob, dodging jutsu's, kunai, and he was certin that a kitchen sink had flown past his head at some point.

He ran from the mob all day until he finally found quiet alleyway to duck into to rest for a moment. He sat there, leaning against a wall for only few minutes before someone else came down the alley.

"So why is everyone in the village chasing you?" Ayame asked as she walked up to the blonde.

Naruto sighed. He knew he'd messed up and needed to fix it, but he didn't really know how. So he told her everything that had happened today, from ditching missions with kagebunshin to the book that fell out of his pocket.

After he finished the two just sat there for a while. Ayame didn't know whether to rat him out or not. She figured he'd learned his lesson from it, but she wanted to really drive the point home. She stood up and hugged Naruto.

"I won't tell them where you are, dont worry." She coo-ed into his ear. He relaxed a bit until her grip suddenly tightened up. "I've got him! He's right here!" She screamed as loud s she could.

Naruto tried to get free but before he could three figures led an angry mob down the alley. He instanly recognized all three as Tsunade, Hana, and his mom. All three of them were cracking their knuckles as they walked up. Ayame let go of Naruto and walked right past the mob. "See you later Naruto!" She said as she blew him a kiss.

Naruto's screams for mercy could be heard anywhere in the village and terrified anyone who heard them, none more-so than a certain blonde ninja who was hiding under his desk in the Hokage Tower.

Please forgive me Naruto...

Meanwhile in a cave

The ten members of the Akatsuki stood waiting for the answer that for the question Donzo had just asked. He was known to be a very patient man, but in his time with them he had been anything but. He was always trying to press forward on his revenge. It had become particularly tiring for Pain, and everyone realized that it wouldn't take much more for Pain to snap and kill Donzo.

"The longer we wait, the stronger Naruto will become! Right now is our best chance to act!" Donzo shouted, his voice echoing in the empty cave.

"Enough!" Konan shouted, "We don't have time for you to waste on petty revenge! We have other targets besides the Kyuubi!"

"This will be the last time I tell you this Donzo." Pain started, shifting his gaze to the elderly man, "Because if I have to tell you again, I will kill you instead."

Donzo gulped, he hadn't heard Pain directly threaten anyone before. Normally he was calm and composed, like he used to be but since he had been exiled by the very people he was trying to protect he had thrown caution to the wind and was only looking for results.

"We will continue to bide our time, Donzo. We don't need to forget that the Yondaime Hokage will defend his son. They will know pain when the time is right." Pain said with finality.

"Hai, Pain-sama." Donzo said as he bowed.

"Good, now we need to discuss our plans for the Ichibi. Deidara, what do you have in mind?" Pain asked the blonde with long hair.

"I'll go show them what true art is all about." The blonde replied, with a sinister smile on his face.

A/N So what do you guys think? **Be sure to leave a review and follow/favorite me or the story**. I'm open to feedback if anyone has any writting tips for me as well. I feel like I put too much emphasis on dialogue right now and I'm trying to work on it, but don't worry. I'll figure it out. **Also quick note, Gaara is at the age where his mental break down began. Should he be crazy like he was in the chuunin exams or should meeting Naruto curb it? Send me anwers!**

Until next time!

-SurrealCereal-


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto: The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter: 7

A/N: Hey Everyone! We're back rolling at a normal pace now and it feels great! Had a few comments made about Gaara's coming into the story and so far the feedback I've gotten has been awesome. We're going to do a bit of a timeskip because, let's face it without the attack from Orochimaru the Chuunin exams would've been really boring. So we are going to skip right ahead to the finals, which would've have normally taken place in the tower not the arena.

Also a shoutout to a reder who I'm pretty sure has read and reviewed every chapter.

-Maail99-

I'm glad you're enjoying the story and thank you for the consistent feedback, poll answers, and support.

Without anymore waiting, let's jump right into to chapter 7, and be warned. It's a long one.

I don't own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

End A/N

Naruto stood across from his opponent. This was one person who he had never thought he would have to fight in a situation like this. The blonde was thinking of every possible outcome this match could have based on the strategies he could come up with and very few of them ended with him winning.

His opponent stood there in a stance waiting for the referee to signal for the match to begin. Naruto knew if he didn't this match quickly he didn't stand a chance.

I might need some help here Karuma..

How many do yo think you'll need?

Two should be enough, but be ready to give me a third if I'm in a tight spot.

Just be careful, Kit. And remember, he doesn't give many openeings. Jump at any chanc you get to put him down.

Naruto crouched down into all fours, staring into his oponent's eyes. "If I hold back on you, I won't win." He said in a feral voice as the fox's cloak formed around him. The tail then split into two as Naruto let out a roar. The heat from the chakra surrounding him was actually hot enough for his opponent to feel across the room.

"That is good Naruto, I am glad to have gotten an opponent who takes me seriously." Rock Lee said as he bent down and began ajusting his leg warmers. "But I will have to be serious as well." He then pulled off weights that were under the warmers.

Three tails! Now!

On it!

A third tail formed behind Naruto as Lee's weights hit the ground, cratering the earth around him.

"They're trying to kill eachother.." Hana said to Obito as he sighed and facepalmed at the same time. "Why'd they have to fight eachother?"

"These two are probably the two most talented genin in this room. As long as they put on a good show, I'm certain they'll both make chuunin." Obito said.

Kakashi sighed, how'd he get signed up for this? Rin was originally supposed to be the referee for these matches until that one kid ended up looking like a human pin cushion. _Well, whatever. _"Are you guys ready?" Both Naruto and Lee nodded. "Begin."

No sooner than word left his mouth were the two tradining blows in the center. Naruto was trying to confuse Lee by flashing everywhere around him, but Lee was quick enought to adjust to dodge any of the blows Naruto would throw and even counter them.

Naruto flashed over to a near-by wall where he had placed the seal needed to flash earlier, before the match began. He used his charkra to hold himself to it and made a single handsign and shouted "Kagebushin no jutsu!"

Five Naruto's rushed at Lee while one stood in place and began making handigns.

_Not today Naruto! _Lee thought as he charged past the five rushing at him and landed a punch in the gut of the one still on the wall. Naruto doubled over before disapearing in a cloud of smoke as the sound of chirping birds filled the room.

"Take this! Chidori!" Naruto shouted as he swung his hand forward at Lee. Lee ducked under the attack and shards of rock exploded away from with wall due to the impact. Lee uppercut Naruto and again Naruto exploded into a cloud of smoke.

Another Naruto came through the cloud of the previous one with a ball of swirling chakra in his hand. "I've got you this time!" Naruto shouted.

Lee jumped away to put some distance between him and the blonde, but Naruto just flashed behind him. "You can't get away from me! Rasengan!"

Lee took the full brunt of the attack and was sent flying through the air and slammed into the wall he was facing. He fell to he floor with a thud and Naruto ran up to him, clearly worried.

"Lee! Lee!" Naruto shouted but Lee fell into unconsciousness.

Lee woke up, but he wasn't laying on the ground like he expected. He was standing across from Naruto who was standing there with his hands in a seal Lee recognized was used for genjutsu.

"N-Naruto?" Lee stamered, "W-what was that?"

"That was our fight Lee." Naruto said, "I didn't want to fight you and risk us getting hurt so I used genjustsu to show us both the outcome."

Lee bit his lip, he had been at full power and so had Naruto. The blonde hadn't used any dirty tricks or put him at a disadvantage. It was a fair fight, but Naruto didn't know all of his powers.

"But there is one thing you did not take into acount, Naruto-kun." Lee said with a slight smirk on his face. Lee quickly removed his weights. _Please let my body hold up. I'm sorry Gai-sensei._

Karuma! Four tails! Now!

You know how much damage that does to you body, Kit!

Don't really have many options here Karuma! Jump strait to six if four isn't enough!

Six?! Are you insane Kit?!

Please... Karuma-kun... If he does what I think he's about to do I'll need to put him down before he gets hurt...

Fine Kit, but I don't want to hear you whine when you're in the hospital.

Fine.

Naruto dropped to all fours as a mix of blood and charkra overed his body, rmoving a layer of skin with it. Four tails formed behind him as he let out a feral roar, scaring everyone inside of the room.

_What is he thinking?! _Obito thought as he was about to jump down but stopped when he heard Lee shout "Seimon! Release!"

Lee's skin was now red and his hair was standing strait up. Chakra shirled around his body in a dangerous and terrifying way.

_Both of them are insane! _Kakashi thought as he looked on. He and Obito shared a worried look tbefore Kakashi spoke. "All non-jounin need to evacuate the room immediately! This fight is going to be extremely dangerous!"

Obito activated his Sharingan and proceeded to try and follow the match. Minato flashed beside him. He stared intently at the match below and kept a hand on Obito's shoulder, ready to flash both of them out of the room at a moment's notice. He had already marked Kakashi, but he wasn't so sure he'd be able to save both of them if it came down to it. _Let's just see how it goes... Be careful Naruto.._

Naruto shouted once more as Lee charged at him. Naruto tried to dodge the blow but wasn't fast enough to do so.

Karuma!

Fine!

Naruto caought himself on the wall behind him, forming a small crater with him at the center. Two more tails formed behind him as a skeleton began to form over his entire body. It was on;y held to him bad a few strands of the blood-chakra that coated Naruto's entire body.

Lee follwed up the attack but Naruto jumped away, leaving Lee to strike the wall instead. The wall burst outwards, sending rubble and rock-shrapnel flying. Naruto swung a tail at Lee as he lept away. Lee blocked the heavy blow with his arms but was sent flying backwards, through the hole in the wall he had just made.

Shit that hurts..

Lee slip to a stop and started a stare down with the transformed Naruto who was staring back at him. Lee could tell his arm was broken but it wasn't anything Hana couldn't heal once they were finished. He didn't realize the toll the transformation was taking on Naruto's body though and would soon regret not calling the match here.

Naruto knew he could beat Lee, the problem was it took six tails to able to keep up with his speed. He had the power to finish Lee at three tails though but would have still been at a disadvantage based on that.

Suddenly a pair of hands sprung out of the ground at Lee's feet, forcing him on the defensive. He dodged as best he could but still wound up taking a blow to the ribs. He flt them break but pressed on anyways trying to put Naruto on the defensive. They were now outside the building ond on the defensive. He saw the Hokage standing in a near-by tree with his hands on Kakashi and Obito-sensei's shoulders.

Guess I can go all out.

He rushed at Naruto again, and landed a few good shots on the boy but it didn't seem like he even felt them. Lee lept away, avoiding a hand that had just seperated at the elbow of another arm.

Before Lee even had a chance to dodge again Naruto pulled a large tree out of the ground and threw it at Lee. Lee kicked the tree, turning it into splinters. Lee realized it was a distraction a split second two late as Naruto rushed through the tree shards and headbutted Lee strait into the ground.

The green clad ninja slammed into the ground, forming a large crater beneath him. He coughed up a small bit of blood and he could feel some of the warm liquid making its way from his forehead. He tried to move but his body fet heavy. He opened his eyes to see Naruto, returned to normal, standing over him, offering his hand to help him up.

Kakashi sighed, _Are these two really genin?_

"Winner, Namikaze Naruto." Kakashi anounced.

Lee went to take Naruto's hand but before he could, the blonde suddenly collapsed as burns began froming all over his body.

Mianto flashed down to his son, "Naruto! Naruto!" He shouted, with tears forming in his eyes. Minato picked his son up and flashed away to the hospital.

Lee just sat there, his eyes wide with worry. "N-Naruto?" Was all he managed to say beofre the effects of the Seimon took effect, rendering him unconscious.

Lee woke up in a hospital bed, he felt stiff and sore all over. Hana was sitting beside his bed.

"Thank goodness you're awake!" She shouted, wrapping Lee in a hug. Lee flinched a lttle, prompting her to let go. It was then that he decided to assess the damage done to him.

Hana saw what he was doing and decided to just tell him instead. "5 broken ribs, your right arm broke in three places and you left in four, several harilie fractures in a few obsuce places and a lot of bruising all over your body. What the hell were you two thinking?" She was shouting now, either out of frustration or worry Lee couldn't tell. There was only one thing on his mind at that moment.

"How's Naruto-kun?" Lee asked as he looked down at his lap.

"I don't know. Tsunade-sama was in charge of him though. It's been a while since we brought you guys in." You could hear the concern in Hana's voice. "Why do you two have to push yourselves this far? You could've just had your typical sparring match but instead the two of you indead in the hospital." Hana was crying into her palms now, the tears dripping from her cupped hands.

Lee looked down deep in thought. He wished he could make her understand that for the two of them that it was important to give everything you've got and make a name for yourself. To fight as hard as you can, to make sure you're the winner because more often than not in their line of work the loser lost his life.

"Hana, I.." Lee was cut off by the door opening with a very tired Yondaime Hokage standing there.

"Naruto's going to be fine." Minato said almost in a sigh.

"Really?" Hana asked, instantly cheering up.

"He's expected to make a full recovery but we all need to have a little chat once you're released from the hospital." Minato sounded grim, but you could hear how tired he was in his voice. "If you'll excuse me for now I'm going to go home and get some rest. Kushina is in there now if you want to go see him."

"He's awake?" Hana asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes, and he'll probably be released before Lee will."

Lee and Hana were both shocked at this, Naruto went from hours in the ICU to release? Minato picked up on their shock and instantly told them, "We'll discuss everything once everyone is out of the hospital."

Meanwhile in Naruto's Room

Naruto sat in his bed, staring at the ceiling. His mom and Ayame were sleeping in the bed next to his.

How long have I been out?

Instead of an answer from Karuma like he was expecting he heard a male voice come into his room from the window. "So, you're finally awake huh?"

Naruto recognized the voice, but he couldn't quite put a name with it until a man with long, silver hair came in through the same window.

"Oh, it's just you Ero-Senin." Naruto said with mild disdain, "What do you want?"

"Remember you _are _talking to one of the Three Legendary Sanin here, gaki. But I'll go ahead and answer your question." Jiraiya spoke in his typical happy-go-lucky voice, until he said "I want to make you my pupil, there are some things I'd lik to teach you and several people I'd like you to meet."

Naruto turned up his nose and crossed his arms, "Like who? Women in the bath?"

"I'm serious Naruto." Jiraiya said, still using his firm voice. "There's an organization that's making moves to capture Jinchuriki like you. I want to teach you to be able to fend them off yourself."

"Why do I get the feeling that's only half the truth?" Naruto asked, now using a serious tone himself.

"You're not wrong, but I need to hear your answer before I tell you anymore."

"If Tou-san gives his aproval, I'll agree." Naruto said, "How long?"

"Four years atleast, maybe more. But by the time we come back you could probably give your old man a run for his money." Jiraiya ws laughing a little now to lighten the mood a bit.

"Really? I'll be that strong?" Naruto asked with stars in his eyes.

"Not a doubt in my mind, but first we gotta bust you outta here."

"Then what're we waiting for-ttebayo?!" Naruto asked as he lept past the older man and out the window.

Just like his dad...

Later in the Hokage's Office

"You know Oka-san is going to kill me right? Litterally kill me." Minato said to the two standing before him.

Naruto nodded as Jiraiya replied, "Minato, it would be more dangerous for him here than it would be with me. Plus, he'll be learning all kinds of things. He could proably make jounin when he comes back."

"I know Jiraiya-sensei, but Kunshina is gonna be pissed." Minato replied. Minato looked like he was deep in thought for several moments before speaking next, "Fine, leave tomight. Take only the bare essentials and Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at the smile on his dad's face. It was a full of pride and joy as it was sorrow. "Congradulations on making Chunin, son." As he spoke, Minato pulled out a green Chunin vest and handed it to his son. Naruto took it and hugged his dad.

"Thanks, tou-san. I love you." Naruto said, tears forming in his eyes.

"I love you too Naruto." Minato said with a tear roing down his cheek.

"Well I hate to break this up but if we're leaving tonight we really need to start preping." Jiraiya said, putting his hands on his hips as he spoke.

"Hai, Jiraiya-sensei." Naruto said as he and the older man Shunshined away, leaving Minato alone in his office.

_Please take care of my son Jiraiya-sensei. _Minato thought as he looked out the window with tears rolling down his cheeks. _Please..._

A/N And boom, Done. I will only have one chapter between this and when he comes home unless I decide to make a comedy/filler one.

So it got real there at the end right? I felt like Minato and Naruto's relationship almost seemed to impersonal so I decided to fix that. You'll also find out how Kushina reacts to his sudden disapearance upon his return. And we'll see some more development on the romantic side of it as well because they'll be older.

That said everyone please follow/favorite/ and review! I love getting feedback! It makes me so happy to check and see that people are reviewing the story. Seriously, I really appreciate it. Quick side thing, my brother is doing much better now but he's trying to rush his healing a bit but he's doing great.

Thanks for reading!

-SurrealCereal-


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto: Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 8

A/N: I dont' own Naruto, so review!

This is happening and I know it's early in the story but it needs to happen. It'll progress the story along nicely and who knows? It may not be permanent. Either way I hope you enjoy and please don't kill me!

Also I've been mispelling Danzo... My bad

Thanks for pointing that out Maail99!

And thanks to everyone who's following and/or favoriting and/or reviewing!

P.S.- You guys rock! Dont kill me!

The sun was setting as Naruto and Jiraiya made their way to the village gate. Naruto was wearing a new outfit he had just purchased for his training with Jiraiya. He was wearing a pair of black pants and a matching shirt underneath his new Chunin vest, he had changed out the fabric on his hitai-ate from the usual blue to black, and decided to stop wearing the mask Kakashi-sensei had given him and instead was showing off the whisker-like marks on his face.

Jiraiya walked close behind and was telling his young student as much information as he could about the Akatsuki. Naruto was listening intently and making small notes in his head about how to fight each of them if it came to it. As they approached the gate, a small group of people were standing off to the side wanting to see the pair off.

Kushina was standing next to Minato, who was now sporting a black eye. She ran up to Naruto and hugging him while giving him all the motherly advice she could as fast as she could. "Don't forget to brush your teeth and bathe everyday, or to stay away from strangers. And don't stay up to late, and don't just eat ramen, eat your vegetables too! Stay away from any shifty looking strangers, and don't read any of Jiraiya's perverte books. Write home every chance you get. And don't forget to -"

Minato put his hand on Kushina's shoulder and she instantly stopped when she saw him smile. "He'll be fine, Kushina." It was like magic the way this man could wash all her worries away.

"I know." Kushina said, wiping a tear from her eye, "But I'm gonna miss him."

"I will too." Minato said as he wrapped her in a hug. He looked over to Naruto as Kushina surpressed her sobbs in his arms, "Be careful musuko-san."

"I will, tou-san." Naruto said with a grin that matched the one Minato had given Kushina to calm her down.

I swear he's Minato's clone rather than his son. Jiraiya thought to himself as he watched the exchange.

"Naruto," Ayame said as she stepped out from behind the boy's parents, "Were you really not going to tell me you were leaving?" She was aggrivated, but there was more hurt in her words than anger.

Naruto felt terrible. He wanted to tell her but he didn't know what to say. Either way he knew what was about to happen. The only response he gave was a nod. Ayame had tears running down her cheeks. Th Hokage had asked if she wanted to surpise Naruto at the gate on his way out. When he realized she had no idea what was hapening he explained the entire situation to her.

"So what will you do?" Minato had asked her. She didn't know the answer then, she didn't know it on the way over there, and she didn't know it now. She began crying uncontrolably before walking over to Naruto and slapping him across the cheek. She then ran off, crying into her arm in the direction of Ichiraku. Naruto went to chase her, but Kakashi put his hand on the boy's shoulder and shook his head, tellin Naruto not to chase her.

"It'll only make things harder." the silver haired nin said, with a sad expression under his mask, "Just leave it alone for now."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, looking at the ground.

Lee wanted to cheer Naruto up, and restore the youthfulness to his friend's heart. "Naruto, when you come bck we will have a rematch and this time I will be the victor!"

The fire instantly returned to Naruto, even if he didn't act like it. "We'll just have to see about that, won't we?" He replied in a calm, even voice.

"Be safe Naruto." Lee said as he shook his friend and rival's hand.

"You too bushy-brows." Naruto replied.

Hana interupted the two by clearing her throat. "So I made you this field medic kit. It's got all the things a medic ninja should take with them on missions."

"That's awesome! Thanks Hana!" Naruto replied as he took the gift.

"I just hope you never have to use it." Hana said with a smile.

"Hana put most of that together herself," Rin said approvingly, "She outfitted it especially for you."

"But you still had to help me decde between a few items, Rin-sensei." Hana said with a slight blush.

Naruto thanked Hana again when he felt someone put their hand on his head. He looked up to see Obito-sensei tussling his hair.

"Just remember everything you've learned and you'll be fine Naruto." Obito said as he smiled down at the blonde boy.

"Hai, Obito-sensei." Naruto said with a grin.

"Well, we need to get going if we're going to make decent time." Jiraiya interjected as he put his hands behind his head. "Let's go, gaki."

Everyone waved good-bye as Naruto and Jiraiya walked outside of the gate. Once outside, Naruto gave one final wave to everyone before he and Jiraiya lept into the trees and out of sight.

"Don't worry Kushina," Minato said in a meloncholy tone, "Jiraiya-sensei will take care of him."

The red-headed woman looked at her husband, "That's part of why I'm worried."

Meanwhile with Deidara and Sasori

The two men trudged through the desert, the scorching heat making them regret wearing black cloaks. Deidara could get them there faster, but if someone saw it could raise an alarm and they needed to be as stealthy as possible.

"We're still a few days away at this pace, can't we just use my jutsu for a little while?" Deidara complained as they walked.

"I've already explained why we can't and if you ask me again," Sasori replied, "I'll kill you." He was glaring at Deidara, killing intent rolling off of him in waves.

Unaffected, Deidara just sighed and continued walking. He hated Sasori, the man's idea of art was puppets made from corpses. Sure they made nice weapons but are should be an occurence that disappears as quickly as it came-an explosion. And Deidara's were one of a kind.

I'll show you what real art is, you son-of-a-bitch.. Right before I kill you.

Meanwhile, with Naruto and Jiraiya

The two jumped through the trees, as fast as they could. Naruto was about to suggest slowing the pace a bit, but decided instead to know the circumsances for their rapid departure.

"So, explain everything to me." Naruto said in a flat but demanding tone.

The older man sighed, he didn't want to let the boy know how in danger he would soon find himself but he needed the information to be able to properly strategize. All he knew right now were the members, not their motives or their reasoning for it.

"Naruto," Jiraiya started off, realizing that once he said this it would change the boy forever and there was no way to take it back. "The organization I was telling you about before isn't after you."

The confusion was appearant on the blonde boy's face. "So then why would they attack me?"

"Because they're after what's inside you. The kyuubi." Jiraiya said, taking his serious tone. "They're attacking all the Jinchuriki and I'm not fully certain why at this point, but I have an informant on the inside that's feeding me information. Right now two of them are about to make an attempt at the Ichibi."

Naruto mumbled something Jiraiya couldn't make out. "Can you say it one more time?"

"Karuma, not Kyuubi." Naruto said, slightly ticked off, "And it's who not what."

Jiraiya was shocked, he had heard that Naruto had manged to befriend the Kyuubi, err.. Karuma, but this was his first time witnessing it for himself. He really could be.

"Sorry, Gaki. I didn't mean to offend you." The silver haired man said with a grin. "But right now we need to get to Sunagakure as fast as possible."

"So, what's the Ichibi's Jinchuriki like?" Naruto asked as they jumped from branch to branch in the dense forest.

"His name is Gaara. He's your age and he's a bit unstable but it's only because of the way the village treats him." Jiraiya said in a sad voice. "They've tried to assassinate him several times. I feel bad for him but there's nothing I can do about it. If it isn't handled soon though, I fear for the boy's sanity." He jumped in silence for a moment, wating to hear Naruto's reply. When he didn't hear one he turned to see the boy with red, slitted eyes. The only thing Jiraiya could read on the boy's face was pure rage.

"How DARE they!" Naruto shouted through gritted teeth. "Attacking a kid for something like that!"

"Easy, Gaki." Jiraiya said, afraid Naruto might do something reckless and cause a war, "We'll deal with that after. Right now, according to my intel, I think the Akatsuki are going to make their move on Gaara so that's our number one priority."

"Fine," Naruto said biting his lip in anger until blood was drawn, "How log until we arrive?"

"2 Days."

"We need to speed it up then." Naruto said firmly.

The two sped through the forest as fast as they, only hoping that they could make it in time to save Gaara.

They spent little time resting on their route to Suna but if Jiraiya's intel was correct they would both need to be in the best shpe possible, so killing themselves trying to get there would only kill them when they got there. They stopped about two hours away to rest up a bit before their arrival.

"So," Jiraiya said sternly after taking a sip from his canteen and passing it to Naruto, "I'm sure you've already realized this but you may and up facing one of them one-on-one."

Naruto took a drink and handed it back to Jiraiya, "I have." He wasn't afraid, but he was a bit nervous. So far, his strongest opponent to date was Lee and that had him out of commision for a while afterwards. "I don't plan on losing either."

Jiraiya took a long drink before recapping the canteen and putting it back in his bag. "But don't think winning is your only option." Jiraiya said solomnly.

Naruto was about to ask what he meant but Jiraiya just held up his hand and cut him off before he could. "What I mean is this: If things get to the point where you're worrying about your own survival, run. Don't fight to the death or until you can't fight. Right now you're the hardest target for them to get and I intend to keep it that way even at the cost of my own life, Gaki."

Naruto looked for any sign that the man was joking. He didn't even want to think about the possibility of the silver haired ma dying. Sure he was a pervert, but he was kind, inteligent, and caring towards others.

Naruto bit his lip hard enough to draw blood from the same spot as earlier.

"Promise me, Naruto."

"I promise.." Naruto said with tears in his eyes, until he practically erupted in a rage, "I PROMISE THAT I WON'T LET YOU DIE! THAT YOU WON"T FIND YOURSELF IN THAT SITUATION! I'LL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO HELP!" Even Naruto didn't know where all of this was coming from, he was just saying what he felt like he needed to say and was shocked by his own words, but he calmed down and in a cool and collected voice said something that Jiraiya didn't expect, "Because that's my nindo, my ninja way."

The older man sat there in silence looking at Naruto for several moments with a shocked expression on his face. Naruto wished he would reply, even if just to tell him he was an idiot.

Suddenly Jiraiya bust out laughing and scared Naruto.

"Why're you laughing at me?!" Naruto demanded angrily.

"Because you're an idiot!" Jiraiya said before resuming laughing. Naruto looked down at the ground, he felt like an idiot until he felt a hand on top of his head. "You're an idiot like me and your father. You don't want to feel like you could've done more. You want to help save those who are precious to you." Naruto smiled until Jiriaya finished with "But you're still an idiot."

Naruto began shouting angrily at Jiraiya while Jiraiya pulled the scroll from his back, sat down, and unrolled it. "What's that?" Naruto asked upon seeing his father's and Jiraiya's names written on the scroll in blood.

"It's a contract, Gaki." Jiraiya said looking up at the bonde boy who was clearly confused. Jiraiya sighed before explaining, "Your dad never told you about this? Fine then, if you're going to be an idiot you're going to need some help. By signig this you'll create a summoning contract between you and the toads of Mount Myoboku so you can get some help in a pinch. I can teach you the handsigns but I doubt you'll be able to use it in the fight we're about to go into. It uses a lot of chakra to summon one and most people can't summon one until after of few weeks of practice."

"So what do I need to do?" Naruto asked eagerly as he sat across from Jiraiya, the scroll in the sand between them.

"Take a small bit of your blood and right your name. Below that you'll need the fingerprints of the hend you'll be using for the summoning."

"That's it?" Naruto asked, mildly unimressed.

"There are a few handsigns but your fingerprints need to be in blood as well, Gaki." Replied the silver haired man, slightly aggrivated.

Naruto looked at the scroll for a second, contemplating his decision, before he brought his right thumb to his lips and bit it. The blood slowly ran down his hand to his wrist. He then wrote his name on the scroll and touched all his fingers to his thumb, getting blood on all of them. He then placed the tips of his fingers to the scroll below where he had signed his name.

"So what're the handsigns Ero-Senin?" Naruto asked before wipping the blood of his hand with a rag he pulled from his pack.

"Dog, boar, monkey, bird, sheep." Jiraiya said as he showed Naruto the hand signs. "And then you place your palm on the ground where you want the toad to be summoned.

"Alright," Naruto said with a grin, "I'll practice after we settle things in Suna."

Jiraiya smiled to himself as he looked at the blonde boy in front of him. _Too much like his dad for his own good._

"Well Naruto, for now we need to get back on the road. I want you to meet with Gaara while I go talk to the Kazekage."

"You got it." Naruto said with a smile as the two began their trek through the desert.

A few moments later Naruto heard another et of footsteps coming up beind them. Without looking he threw three kunai in the direction the footsteps came from before turning to meet their pursuer head on.

Naruto charged up a chidori in his left hand while holding a kunai in his right when Jiraiya suddenly grabbed both of his wrists.

"You're really lucky I have quick reflexes Naruto." Kakashi said flashing Naruto and eye-smile. "Those kunai were thrown in a way that made it really hard to dodge all of them."

"What're you doing here Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, clearly confused.

"Hokage-sama sent me here to back you up. He figures a little extra firepower couldn't hurt. Plus you two don't have a medic with you so I was told escort one to you." As he finished, Rin popped out from behind Kakashi holding all of the kunai Naruto had just thrown.

"I thought you might want these back considering they have your seal on them." She said with a smile as she handed the marked kunai back to Naruto.

Naruto thanked her and put the knives back into his pouch.

"Well a medic is never a bad thing, especially one who was trained by Tsunade. I'm guessing she taught you the trick to her strength?" Jiraiya asked, looking at Rin with approval.

"She did." Rin said with a smile, before replacing the smile with a look of pure rage and a cold voice. "She also warned me about you."

"Woah right now I'm on a mission, that comes after." Jiraiya said with a parverted sile on his face. Rin just glared at Jiraiya who stood there with his hands up as if surrendering.

"We need to get moving if we're going to make up the time we've lost since we've been standing here." Naruto said as he began running accross the desert again.

Everyone nodded before following. _A natural leader, just like hisold man._ Kakashi thought as he followed the boy. But he could've sworn for a second there it had felt like he was following his sensei again.

The four raced through the desert only hoping to reach their destination on time. Unbeknownst to them, the two Akatsuki were already at the edge of the village.

"Alright Deidara," Sasori said in a clearly aggrivated tone, "You use your jutsu to lure him out and I'll use mine to capture him."

Deidara smiled at his comrade before sticking his hands into his pockets. When they emerged he was holding several clay spiders. "I'm gonna turn this place into a work of art!" He shouted as the threw the spiders.

Naruto was the first to hear the explosions as they approached the village. He sped up, running as fast as he could to a cliff that overlooked the village, what he saw left him shock.

The entire village was in disarray. The were bodies in the streets and eplosions could be seen going off in parts of the village. Screams of pain and dispair filled the air. Jiraiy, Kakashi and Rin didn't take the sight any better than Naruto did when they arrived.

"My God.." Rin gasped, as she covered her mouth with her hands.

Naruto clenched his hands into fists when he noticed the large white bird flying above the village. Rage flashed across his features as his eyes turned a bright red. He lept at the bird in the air as the fox's cloak began covering his body.

"NARUTO!" Jiraiya shouted as he grabbed at the boy, trying to stop him. He missed him by an inch. "Damn it! Rin, Help as many people as you can! Kakashi, Give Naruto some back up! I'm going to go try and find Gaara!"

Rin and Kakashi shook themselves out of the initial shock of seeing Suna in it's current state and nodded in agreement.

"Kakashi," Jiraiya said in a firm, demanding voice, "If you get the chance, get Naruto out of there."

Kakashi nodded before leaping from rooftop to rooftop, chasing after the blonde boy.

Jiraiya watched the two of them for a second before speaking again. "Rin, stay as close to them as possible while keeping yourself safe. I want you close to them just in case something happens."

Rin replied with a simple, "Hai, Jiraiya-sama." Before making her way through the streets, keeping herself concealed.

_Please don't let anything happen to those two.. _Jiraiya thought to himself before entering sage mode to search for Gaara. _And please let me find him first._

Naruto lept from roof to roof, closing in on his target. He was seeing red. This had to be stopped, this senseless killing. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Based off the profiling info Jiraiya had given him, he knew te man he was rushing at was Deidara.

Naruto realized that rushing at his opponent angrily like this would accomplish nothing but get him killed as he thought about the fight would play out. He came to a halt at the top of a tower. He was within jumping distance of Deidara but with nothing to flash to around him, he would be an easy kill if he lept at him.

He calmed down as he began strategizing. The fox'z cloak, dissipating from his body. His eyes remained red, a sign of the fury he kept quelled within him ready to snap if the need for it arose.

When Kakashi caught up, Naruto was sitting cross-legged at the top of the tower with several marked kunai laid out in front of him.

"I'm guessing you already have a plan?" Kakashi asked as he studied Naruto.

"This is what I need you to do, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said before explaining to Kakashi the strategy he had in mind.

"You do realize this is borderline insanity, right?" Kakashi asked after Naruto finished.

"Yeah, but the way I see it we really don't have too many otther options." Naruto said as he stood up. The explosions had stopped now, but he knew it wouldn't be long before they continued.

"Alright then, Just give me the signal when you're ready." Kakashi said as he looked to the streets below them, trying to see if he could locate Rin or Jiraiya. _I sure hope those two are still okay._

Rin was covered from head to toe in blood and soot. The blood was from several people she had pulled out of the rubble. The soot however, was from one of the explosives that was about to hit a little boy who was running past her, so she grabbed him and lept into a near-by doorway.

The blast had sent the two of them flying towards a wall but right before they hit it sand flew from the ground and caught them and practically laid the two of them on the ground.

Rin was knocked unconscious by the blast. The boy stood over her and noticed she was from a different village.

Why would she save me?

Because she doesn't know who you are, if she did she wouldn't have saved you.

She doesn't seem like the others. Maybe she was really trying to save me.

It's time for you to accept that no one will ever be there for you.

You're wrong...

No I'm not and you know it! Quit lying to yourself!

_NO! YOU'RE WRONG! _... _Atleast I hope you are..._

Just then Jiraiya came bursting into the room. "Rin! Are you okay?" He shouted as he ran over to her. He pulled out his canteen and poured some water on her face to wake her up.

Rin came to slowly and immediately began checking the boy to make sure he wosn't hurt. While she was doing this, Jiraiya bowed to the boy. "Thank you, Gaara."

"H-How do you know my name?" The boy asked, slightly shocked.

"Me and my friends are actually here to help you." Jiraiya said with a smile.

He's lying.

He doesn't seem like he is.

No one will ever come to help you.

Now who's lying?

"But first we need to get away from here. The entire village is a battlefield right now. Where's the Kazekage at?" Jiraiya said in an increasingly concerned tone.

"He's away on business and they've already killed his replacement." Gaara said in a flat voice.

"We need to signal our retreat to Naruto and Kakashi." Rin said, satisfied that neither she nor Gaara were hurt.

Just then a series of explosions were heard going off above the village.

Please be okay, Gaki.

Several Kakashi's were spread out across several rooftops hurling Naruto's marked kunais. Naruto was flashing between them, dodging explosions and getting closer to his opponent.

Deidara was sending hundreds of clay birds at the blonde boy. No matter how many he sent though, the brat just kept dodging. If this kept up he would run out of clay. He needed a counter strategy and he needed it now.

Right then he saw a kunai fly right by his cheek. He didn't even have time to react before he felt the axe kick to the back of his head, sending him hurtling to the ground.

_Namikaze... _Deidara thought with a shock as he realized the technique he was fighting against was none other than that of the Yondaime Hokage _But what's he doing here? Wait, this brat can't be the Yondaime so that means..._

This was going to be their best chance to capture Naruto and Deidara knew it. His giant clay bird swooped down from the sky for him to land on and he immediately sent out a smaller bird to carry this information to Sasori.

No sooner than the bird left his hand did he see a bright red flare light up the sky. He looked back to where Naruto had been to see that he was now gone along with all of the Kakashi's.

Naruto and Kakashi were running through the streets, using the buildings to cover their retreat. Naruto was going to the location the flare had been launched from. Naruto had left a single kunai just outside the village just in case they needed to make a quick retreat. If he could just reach everyone then he could flash everyone out of the village.

They were about to come around the last corner when they heard Deidara shouting behind them.

"Oh no you don't Naruto!"

The two turned to see Deidara in a high speed die right at them. He was trowing several birds at them and they were coming at the two too fast for them to dodge completely.

Naruto and Kakashi lept as far awy as they could but still took most of the blast. They were sent through a wall before scrambling to their feet. They were moving on pure adrenaline. The blast had broken a few bones on each of them but they didn't have time to heal or wait on the pain to stop. They were in a dangerous position but they had also gotten really lucky.

Once they stood they saw the surprised faces of Rin, Jraiya and a small boy that they didn't recognize. Without hesitation Naruto wrapped everyone in a hug as a large bird came through the hole in the wall their bodies had just made.

He managed to get everyone out of the village just before the explosion brought the entire buiding down. They found themselves on the cliff they had been on when they first saw Suna. The village was practically in ruins now and the streets were littered with bodies. Several Suna-nin could be seen escorting civilians out of the village. Most of them had injuries that were visibly painful to look at but they were doing their best to escort peope away from the distruction.

Gaara noticed a boy and a girl slightly older than him being led away by several ninjas. Jiraiya noticed the way the boy's posture changed upon seeing the two of them and asked "Do you know them?"

"They're my siblings but..." Gaara's voice was pianed and he was biting his lip "I know they're afraid of me." He paused for a moment before continuing, trying to fight back tears "I-I'm just glad they're okay."

Jiraiya smiled warmly at the boy nad began addressing everyone "Well we need to figure out a couple of things but right now isn't really the time, so for now let's do some introductions and get out of here."

"I'm Rin."

"Hatake Kakashi." Gaara had heard his name before and was slightly awestruck to actually meet him on friendly terms.

"I'm Namikaze Naruto." Naruto stuck his hand out to shake Gaara's hand.

Gaara didn't know what to think. He had heard this name before as well. Wasn't he the Yondaime Hokage's son and a jinchuriki? Someone almost exactly like him?

Naruto flashed a big toothy grin at Gaara, "I hope we can be friends."

Gaara's eyes widened and a genuine happy smile came across his face. This was the first time he'd met anyone he could possibly relate to and to top it all off they actualy wanted to be friends with him.

Gaara shook Naruto's hands "I do too Namikaze-san. My name's Gaara."

"Nice to meet you." Naruto replied still keeping his toothy grin on his face. Everyone watching this exchange just smiled.

"My name's Jiraiya, the Toad Sanin of Konoha." Jiraiya said, "And if you'd like, your new sensei."

Gaara's eyes filled with tears and a huge smile came across his face. Gaara simpled nodded in reply, too happy to actually form words.

Naruto gave Jiraiya a look that just simply asked "How?"

The man reached into his pack and pulled out a small scroll. "The Hokage has been in contact with the Kazekage asking to teach Gaara. Seeing as Suna really wanted nothing to do with the boy, it really wasn't all that difficult for him to convince the Kazekage to allow him to transfer to Konoha, if he wants. If he agrees then he'll be accompanying us on our training and upon our return will be able to take the graduaton exam."

"Seriously?!" Naruto asked with a huge smile on his face. He turned to Gaara to hear the boy's reply.

Again Gaara was to shocked for words, these complete strangers were showing him far more kindness than anyone in his family had ever shown him. "I agree." Gaara said after the initial shock of the offer passed.

"Well then its settled. Kakashi, Rin we'll see you back at the village when we return." Jiraiya said with a smile, but right at that exact moment all of Naruto and Kakashi's adrenaline from the fight faded and the pain hit them like a sack of bricks. Both of them fell over, still concsious but clearly in pain.

Rin shook her head at the two of them, "What have I told both of you about ignoring your injuries?"

Naruto and Kakashi shared a pained laugh as Rin began healing them. "I swear you two can't go anywhere without a medic."

I told you someone would care about me.

They don't really care about you. No one does or will.

Gaara was brought of his discussion with Shukaku by Naruto grabbing his hand. Now he could hear the blonde boy's thought's in his head as well.

Shukaku, you're just don't trust us yet. But one day you will. Me and Karuma will make sure of it!-ttebayo

Shukaku fell silent for a moment before muttering **Maybe there's hope yet then..**

A/N: PLEASE KEEP READING!

And done! Really long chapter and all and I know the fighting was anti-climactic but hey, they were there to save Gaara not fight the Akatsuki. They achieved that goal so why did they need to stick around and risk losing both Naruto and Gaara? Don't worry, the bigger battles are coming but let's keep it real here. Naruto is still younger than when he graduated the academy in canon and he was already able to fight Deidara to a stand still.

And yes Gaara is going to be coming to the Leaf. In my mind it only makes sense to get away from the people trying to kill you.

Also would you guys rather have:

-A chapter that **vaguely** covers Naruto and Gaara's Training

or

-A time skip to when they return to the village

Let me know! You guys have until Sunday June 28, 2015! So get on those reviews!

And as always, remember to Favorite and Review! And to everyone who already has Thank you!

Next chapter I'll be giving a shout out to all the story's followers!

Also if anyone knows a good artist who would be willing to let me use a pic for this story's cover, please let me know!

Until next time guys!

-SurrealCereal


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto: The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 9

A/N Thank you everyone who has reviewed up to this point! And a special thank you to everyone who is currently folowing my first FanFiction! It really means a lot to me that you guys are enjoying my writting and as always I'm open to constructive criticism.

So these are all of the Pride of the Leaf's followers as of 6/29/15:

I also tried to make links to all of their pages so you can check out some of the stories they've written. (Sorry if it doesn't carry to the story after I upload it)

Angel Hatake Bojack2011

ChunkyFunkyMunky CreedRazerReaper

DragonPony022 God of Wind 200

KazaHaru45 Maail99

Muffinator09 NarutoKushina

Rikudosage Shippingtoomanyships

TMAtheCat Xerox0928

chris009 demon5451

gvargas132 kayassine

lilith dracul neoneoist

re4lnk subzerodx

superduckman100 watson85

Again, thank you all for the support. And I hope you all enjoy Chapter 9!

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto. Plain, simple, done.

Also, this is going to be a short chapter due to the vagueness of it. More about the events that occured during this time period will be explained later on as the story progresses.

Shinobi no Kitsune

Shinobi no Tanuki

END A/N

Naruto, Gaara, and their newly appointed sensei Jiraiya left Suna Henge-ed as Suna-nin. The left a scroll with the details of the attack along with the scroll that stated Gaara would now be training under the Legendary Sanin himself.

After leaving the village the trio went to a small village that had been under attack by bandits recently and offered their aid. Jiraiya said he needed to go off and do some "research" and left the two boys to handle the bandits themselves.

Once the bandits were taken care of, the three left and headed to Amegakure, where several border skirmishes were occuring following the attack on Suna. Iwagakure saw a chance to take over and had immediately began their attempts to invade. For the next three years, until Suna was once again stabilized, Iwa had attempted to invade Suna but failed.

During their time in Ame, Naruto and Gaara had to addopt disguises to prevent anyone from associating them with their village. Naruto wore his all black outfit and a Fox ANBU mask. Gaara mimiced Naruto in the all black outfit and chose a Racoon ANBU mask instead.

Jiraiya was aware of their activities, but could do nothing to stop them since his presence their alone could cause issues for Konoha. They two always avoided conflict when possible, trying to save as many lives as they could on either side. They did their best to minimize destruction to Ame as well, going as far as to take a few direct hits from several jutsu's to prevent damage to their surroundings.

The two were given nicknames by a group of civilians they saved during a particularly bad battle. A building was about to collapse on top of a street full of people trying to flee the area. Gaara used his sand to hold the building up as Naruto rushed in and got everyone out of the area. After that, Naruto was called Shinobi no Kitsune and Gaara was called Shinobi no Tanuki.

After all was said and done Naruto and Gaara's aliases were both in the Bingo Book listed as S-Rank Shinobi with a recomendation to Flee on Sight. The two didn't let it go to their heads and continued their training with Jiraiya who wanted them to meet one last person before their return to Konoha.

They would only have 6 months to learn what it was this teacher wanted to teach them, but if they suceeded they would be among the strongest shinobi to ever exist. Jiraiya hadn't been fully sold on letting the boy's meet their next teacher, until he realized all the changes in the two of them. Naruto wasn't as serious all the time and had really lightened up. Gaara was probably one of the happiest kids he had ever seen. After meeting Naruto, Gaara had quickly become friends with Shukaku and no longer feared sleeping. They're wasn't a trace of the insanity that had been growing on him before hand anywhere in him.

Jiraiya looked up at the clouds with a smile on his face as they approached their destination. _I know he's going to be everything you hoped he would be Sarutobi-sensei._

A/N: And End

See I told you, short and vague. Not all that glamorous. And also I know I wasn't creative on their nicknames either but it seems pretty cool to me. And no, the next chapter won't be a continuation of their training. It will be the return.

So now then:

Should Gaara:

-Join Konoha-

or

-Return to Suna-

As always don't forget to follow/favorite the story and review!

-SurrealCereal


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto: The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 10

A/N: I'm sorry about that last chapter being so short. This chapter is coming out as quick as it is mostly as an appology for the length of the last one. Thanks again to everyone following the story.

But a friend of mine asked me a few questions after I posted the chapter that may clarify a few things.

Q: Why would the fighting be in Ame?

A: Even Pein says that during the Shinobi Wars the village was often used as a battlefield. With it being essentially a bridge, it would be an important territory to control.

Q:Why did the fighting have to occur at all?

A: Even in Shippuden the villages were essentially looking for ways to start wars. With Suna weakened after the attack someone would've invaded and so I went with the closest of the 5 Great Lands.

Q:Why was the Kazekage away? And wouldn't he have a substitute?

A:Because I said so and no for plotting purposes, normally yes though.

Anyways, let the story continue!

"Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo! He owns Naruto now I do too! Wait... no I don't... I don't own Naruto..."

End A/N

The three of them approached the gate. Naruto hadn't been epecting a parade, but he had been epecting someone there to greet him other than the two gate guards. The two guards looked at the three and began whispering to eachother as the trio passed through.

Naruto lept to the nearest rooftop and began looking around the village. From where he was standing, not a lot had changed. His parents had made it sound like when he came the village would have been much different than when he had left, but this was not the case. There were still four faces on the mountain, the academy had some students practicing kunai throwing outside, and Ichirku was still in business.

Naruto felt a pain in his chest as he remembered the times he had spent with Ayame. He wanted to rush over there to see her but a hand on his shoulder held him in place.

"I don't think that's very smart right now, gaki." Jiraiya said in a soft, caring tone, "I think it'd be best to wait and have a look round first. Besides," he said slightly more upbeat, "We still need to go check in with your dad."

Naruto gulped. "Do you think he knows that was us in Ame?" Naruto wasn't afraid of his dad knowing what they were doing, but he was terrified of his mom knowing.

Jiraiya chuckled a bit, knowing the cause of the blondes distress "Maybe, but we're not going to know unless we go ask. Now come on, let's go see him."

Same time but from Gaara's Perspective

Konoha was a much different place than Gaara had ever been, but it somehow seemed peaceful. He was taking in every sight he possibly could as they passed through the gate. Naruto had run off ahead, eager to be home and Jiraiya had followed right behind.

_Who can blame them _He thought to himself as he looked at the two from the ground below _They havn't been home in 4 years._

**Neither have you.** Shukaku chimed in.

I know...

So what will you do?

Gaara fell silent in his mind as he weighed the choice he was about to have to make once again. He had been thinking over it for some time now, but he still didn't have an answer. He only hoped he would have one by the time he went before the Hokage.

Naruto and Jiraiya lept down from the roof and landed on the ground in front of the red-head, snapping him out of his trance like state.

"Well, like I just told Naruto here we need to go check in with the Hokage." Jiraiya said with a smile.

Gaara nodded at the silver haired man as he led the two boys away, through the village and towards the Hokage Tower.

As they walked Gaara noticed more and more people stopping to stare at the three of them. Some were even going ot of their way to follow them for a bit. While none approached them and he could feel no ill intent in their actions, it set him slightly on edge until Naruto leaned over and whispered into his ear. "They're talking about me, not you. No need to worry," He then flashed his signature toothy grin at the boy and they continued walking.

Once they arrived at the tower they were immediately led into the Hokage's office by his secretary. The three passed through the door and Naruto was immediately swallowed into a hug by his father, who had just flashed across the room upon seeing them.

"I missed you so much Naruto!" The hokage said as he accidentally choked the life out of his son, "And so has your mom! Look at how tall you've gotten! To think you're 12 now! You've been eating properly right? And getting plenty of rest? I can feel your muscles even through your shirt! I wonder how strong you are now! What all did Jiraiya teach you? Kakashi said you signed the Toad Summoning Contract! How big of a toad can you summon now? Have I mentioned I missed you?!"

Jiraiya and Gaara both laughed as they wtched the reunion. Minato had tears running down his eyes. Four years is a long time to go without seeing your son. Naruto was trying desperately to get free, but failing miserably.

Jiraiya spoke up between laughs to put an to the blonde boy's suffering. "Minato, you can have this reunion later, we have some business to take care of first."

Minato instantly flipped from father to hokage. Naruto still wondered how his dad could change mentalitoes that fast until his mind flashed back to a few times in Ame where he had to switch his mentality just as fast.

He shook of the memory to realize that his dad was staring at him with a look of bewilderment.

"So it was you." Minato said with tears forming in his eyes. "I had really hoped that you weren't Shinobi no Kitsune but somehow I knew."

Naruto looked down at his feet. He had no idea what to say to comfort his dad. Naruto began to speak but Minato raised his hand.

"I've already read all the reports on your actions there and as your Hokage I'm disapointed in you. How could you risk drawing the village into a conflict like that?"

The air becaome heavy. Naruto continued to look down at his feet, tears forming in his eyes. He tried to swallow away the lump in his throat but was failing. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his dad smiling down at him. "But as your father I couldn't be any prouder. There's no telling how many lives you saved. But next time don't be so reckless."

Naruto looked up at his dad and nodded in reply beofre wiping his tears on his sleeve.

Minato turned to Jiraiya, his voice steady and firm. "So how did their training go?"

"Well I'd say it went well all things considered. But right now we have something else we need to discuss." Jiraiya said as he turned to Gaara. "Have you decided yet?"

Gaara stepped forward clearly worried. He clenched his hands inot fists, he didn't want to disapoint them but he also missed his home. He was in a tight spot and he didn't know how to respond.

Minato smiled at the boy, knowing exactly what the boy wanted to say but the words failed him. "You are free to leave whenever you wish. Thank you for helping my son." And as finished the sentence he bowed to Naruto who had followed suit and bowed as well.

Gaara smiled. "Thank you for allowing me to accompany him." He said as he returned the bow.

The three stood back upright. "Please, stay with us tonight and I'll have someone escort you to Suna tomorrow." Minato said.

Gaara politely declined saying "No thank you. I would prefer to leave tonight. It's been some time since I've been home and I'm excited to return."

Minato started to object but stopped himself. He knew he would do the exact same thing if their positions were reversed. Naruto started to say soething but Jiraiya placed his hand over the boy's mouth, effectively silencing his protest. "Very well, but please feel free to come visit anytime you wish."

"I will. Thank you again." Gaara said with a bow before walking out of the office to return to his family in Suna.

I'll never forget you, Naruto.

The remaining three stood in the office in silence for a moment after the red-haired boy left. Minato broke the silence by looking at his son and asking "Well, what are we going to do with you?"

Jiraiya coughed into his hand before speaking. "I recommend he be promoted to Jounin."

Naruto looked up at the silver haired man, slightly dumbfounded. "for real?"

"I was actually thinking the same thing but who could we get to proctor his exam?" Minato said in a slightly louder voice than he'd been speaking with the entire time. "Kakashi, Obito? Can either of you two think of anyone?"

The two men then climbed into the room through a window that had been open the entire time. Kakashi was reading a little orange book while Obito was grinning and scratching the back of his head. "Busted, huh?" Obito asked as they stepped forward.

"Busted." Minato replied. " So who's it gonna be?"

Kakashi and Obito shared a look with eachother before breaking out into a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. They tied several times in a row before a booming voice could be heard coming through the window.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" The voice was accompanied by a man with a chili-bowl hair cut and a familiar green spandex suit who burst through the window Kakashi and Obito had just climbed through. The man flashed a smile at Naruto and Naruto could've sworn he'd seen the man's teeth sparkle. The man then planted his foot firmly into Minato's cheekbone, sending him through the opposite wall.

"Don't worry about this Kakashi, my eternal rival, I'll take care of proctoring his test. Anyone who can defeat my Lee has my respect but I won't be taking it easy on you!" The man then gave Naruto a thumbs up and Naruto could've sworn he saw waves crashing on a rocky cliff behind the man.

This guy is nuts!

Minato climbed back through the hole his body had made in the wall and dusted himself off. "You sure you're up for it Gai?"

"You bet! I want to test my eternal rival's protege!" Gai said with a smile and a thumbs up.

"Fine," Minato said as he shook the drywall out of his hair, "One week from today Training ground 7, 8 AM."

"I'll be there!" Gai shouted before leaping back out the window.

Naruto was still trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. One minute Kakashi and Obito are playing Rock-Paper-Scissors and the next, his dad is getting kicked through a wall.

"So I'm fighting that guy?" Naruto asked, somewhat sceptical of his opponent.

"He may not act it but he's a Taijutsu master. If it came down to it he could beat me in a fight." Obito said in a serious tone. "You're gonna have your work cut out for you with this one."

"Great.." Naruto said sarcastically.

"Well I'll be off then." Jiraiya said as he headed to the door. "Take care Gaki."

"We'd better head out too Naruto. You're mom will want to see you." Minato said with a smile.

The two headed home. Kushina's reaction was similar to Minato's, the only difference was the "-dattebane" at the end of her sentences. Well that and she actually managed to choke Naruto unconscious.

Naruto spent the next week training for his exam with Lee. He memorized Lee's movements but even then he had a few tricks still up his sleeve. He knew he'd have to use them but he didn't want Lee to know about them.

He had tried to go talk to Ayame several times as well but she was never there when he went to see her. He had always "Just missed her." and "Could probably catch up to her if he ran." He always politely declined and said, "It's not that important."

He was also asked to help out at the Academy the day before his exam. He didn't really teach the kids anything, just some basic field first aid. Like putting pressure on a wound, how to clean and wrap it, and how to prevent infection.

He noticed most of the girls in the class were staring at him, but there was one girl in the back of the class who was actually taking notes. He didn't get the chance to ask her name but he knew she'd end up being a medic ninja.

The morning of the fight, Naruto woke up and scarfed down his breakfast before rushing over to the all too familiar training grounds. His dad was already there with Gai, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito.

Minato approached his son. "Namikaze Naruto. You will now be partaking in the Jounin Exam. Maito Gai will be your proctor and opponent. Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito will be giving feedback on your performance. Nohara Rin will be on stand-by as a medic if needed. Your goal here is not to kill your opponent, but to disable him. Do you understand?"

Naruto simply nodded his head in reply as he slid into his fighting stance.

Ready Karuma?

"Good luck, Naruto" Gai shouted from accross the field as he positioned himself into his stance as well.

Ready, Kit.

Minato threw his hand into the air and shouted "BEGIN!"

A/N And end of the chapter. Cliffhanger I know, but how else am I gonna make sure you read the next chapter?

NEXT CHAPTER: SHOUT OUTS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS FAVORITED THIS STORY!

DEADLINE FOR CHAPTER 11 SHOUT OUT IS 7/8/15!

Thanks everyone who has been supporting me and this story. It's been a blast to write so far and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. Thanks again everyone and don't forget to tell your firends!

-SurrealCereal-


	11. Chapter 11

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 11

Hey again guys! Just to answer one question that was asked 3 times since the last chapter was posted:

I have not decided whether or not Naruto and Ayame will get back together.

If you recall, they broke up just before Naruto left on his training. So for now they are NOT together. I'm playing with a few ideas in my head right now and I have one that I really REALLY want to do but I know a lot of you guys wouldn't like it... =/

But it would be AWESOME!

Anyways guys, here's the Shout Outs to all of the people who have Favorited this story as of 7/8/15!

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Thanks to all of you for supporting this story! I can't tell you how awesome it is to get an email saying that someone Reviewed, Favorited or Followed and it makes me want to write the next chapter as quickly as I can. So keep those coming and I'll keep writting (Not like I'd stop ayways but still)

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.

End A/N

Naruto and Gai both stood in place as Minato signaled to start. Gai held up his hand at Naruto who was just about to rush at him.

"Could you give me just a moment? I need to remove my training weights." Gai said, his hand still outstretched.

Naruto smiled back at him and replied, "Well if you're taking yours off can I take mine off?"

Gai was caught somewhat off guard. He didn't encounter too many people who used traditional training weights anymore. He smiled and gave Naruto a thumbs up. "Of course! Show me how bright your youth burns my young friend!"

Naruto nodded with a fox-like grin forming on his face. He sat down and pulled off his weigts with ease and gently sat them on the ground.

_He doesn't want Gai to know how fast he is... Smart. _Kakashi thought to himself, approving of Naruto's strategy.

Gai understood why Naruto had been careful sitting his weights down and quickly sat down to remove his own. Before he could get them off Naruto ran at him at a blinding speed and landed a kick square into Gai's chest. He heard the crunch of Gai's ribs and felt the bone give way beneath his foot. Gai flew backwards, skipping accross the river that had been behind him earlier. He tried to stop himself, but Naruto flashed to him using a seal he had planted on Gai with his foot.

Naruto grabbed Gai by the collar of his Jounin vest and slammed him into the ground, creating a small crater.

_He's much faster than his fight with Lee _Minato thought as he watched _Plus taking adantage of the fact that Gai waited to see how heavy his weights were was a smart move. If he hadn't done that, this would be a completely different fight._

Naruto stood at the edge of the crater, looking at his unmoving opponent. He was about to ask for the match to be clled when he felt a sudden burst of chakra from Gai.

The ground split apart from the overflowing power of Gai's chakra. He had opened some of the chakra gates, but Naruto had no idea how many. Gai stood strait up and immediately ripped his weights off.

"That was a dirty move Naruto." Gai said, positioning his body to strike, "There was no youth in it what-so-ever! Now I'll have to show you the power of youth!" As he finished his sentence Gai disapeared and reappeared behind Naruto. Gai threw a punch that Naruto was barely able to flash out of the way of.

Naruto reappeared a few feet away and made a single handsign before shouting "Kagebushin no Jutsu!"

Ten Narutos appeared in a cloud of smoke and ran strait for Gai. Gai fought them off, and quickly sent all of them away in a puff of smoke. He stood there for a moment trying to locate the real Naruto. He closed his eyes and focused on the sounds he could hear. The only problem was, he couldn't hear anything unusual. It was almost like nothing had been disturbed in their fight. Birds were still chirping in a near-by tree and no snapping twigs or rustling leaves could be heard.

Minato fought down the urge to cheer as he realized what his son was doing. The fight was now being fought on two fronts. Naruto knew he couldn't keep up with Gai with an unknown number of gates opened, so he had decided to bide his time and wait for the after effects to set in. At the same time for someone like Gai to not be able to detect where he was at, Naruto had to be sitting perfectly still and if Naruto was using the technique Minato thought he was this fight was about to become very interesting.

Suddenly, a twig snapped in a near-by tree and Gai rushed strait at the source of the noise. He went over expecting to find Naruto, but instead found a small toad.

The toad looked up at him with a goofy smile and said "My name's Gamatatsu, do you have any snacks?"

Gai just looked down at the toad, unable to process what exactly was happening. "Uh, no I do not."

"Awe... But I'm really hungry." Gamatatsu was now rubbing his stomach as a low growl could be heard.

"I'm sorry little guy, but I really don't have any snacks." Gai said, scratching the back of his head. "But I really need to get back to what I was doing before. Stay safe!" And he flashed a thumbs up and a smile at the toad before leaping back to the clearing the fight had started in.

Minato was barely able to keep himself from laughing after what he just wittnessed. He recognized the little toad and was amazed that Naruto could summon specific toads. The amount of chakra control something like that would take should be near impossible for someone with the amount of chakra Naruto has.

Gai returned to the field to see Naruto sitting still on a nearby tree branch. He rushed at the boy but as he did, the chakra gate he had opened shut causing him to fall over in pain.

_Not now... _Gai thought to himself as he frantically tried to find a way out of the situation he was in. He had expected Naruto to rush over and finish him immediately but the blonde just continued to sit there with his eyes closed. Gai felt like he was being mocked. He couldn't fall, not this easily. _I have to get up. If Kaimon didn't work then I'll just have to go even further!_

Gai rose to his feet slowly, the pain evident on his face. His ribs were broken and his muscles burned from opening Kaimon, but he forced himself to stand anyways. He stood wearily and was uneasy on his feet. Every muscle in his body told him to stay down but he wasn't about to let a Jounin hopeful beat him like this.

"Kyumon! Kai!" Gai shouted and instantly the muscles in his body began to stop protesting under his weight. He felt rested and ready and could feel the power coursing through his body once again.

At the same time Naruto had lept down from from his perch in the tree and was walking over to Gai with his eyes still shut. Naruto's entire demeanor had changed. He was calm, confident and ready for anything Gai could throw at him. This change didn't go un-noticed. Everyone there had seen that Naruto was a bit anxious before, but he was doing an exellent job of hiding it.

Naruto positioned his body in a taijutsu style that Gai wasn't familiar with.

_I need to be ready for anything now_.

Naruto opened his eyes to reveal two yellow irises with rectangular pupils. Around his eyes was what appeared to be orange eye shadow. Minato instantly recognized the technique and whispered to Kakashi and Obito "This is where this fight gets good."

No sooner than the words left Minato's mouth were the two locked in a taijutsu match. From where they were standing it looked like Gai had a clear upperhand but once the two seperated it was clear that there was something they weren't seeing. Naruto had a few bruises and cuts from the flurry of traded blows but Gai was in much worse shape. He looked like he was barely hanging on to consciousness and this was begining to worry all of them.

_If he hadn't landed that cheap shot early on, Gai would've probably just won but since his ribs are broken it's limiting his range of motion and giving Naruto a weak spot to target. _Minato thought to himself as he examined the two.

Obito ad Kakashi were still trying to figure out what they had just witnessed. Obito now had his sharingan active and was trying to figure exactly how Naruto was able to do what he was doing. _I don't get it. I thought Gai dodged most of those punches._

Naruto's eyes changed back to their normal blue and Gai smiled at him, hiding the ammount of pain he was in. "So it seems that technique of yours has a time limit as well. But unlike mine it also has a charge time! This is my chance! Seimon! Kai!"

The ground began to break apart beneath Gai's feet and he ran directly at Naruto. The blonde jumped away and threw several shuriken but they were easily dodged by the green-clad jounin. Naruto swung off of a tree branch and srtait at Gai. _I'm almost at my limit here. I don't know how much longer my body can take this level of abuse._

Naruto made a few hand signs and held his hand out in front of him as lightning began to spark from his palm. "Chidori!" He shouted as he thrust the jutsu at Gai. Gai narrowly dodged the attack and punched Naruto in the gut hard enough to render the boy unconscious. But instead of flling to the ground, the boy disapeared in a cloud of smoke.

Gai instantly put up his guard, recognizing it as the same feint that had beaten his pupil, Rock Lee. But instead of Naruto flying in with a Rasengan in hand, Gai ended up landing in a spider-web of steel wire that tangled all around his body. He could feel the thin wires cutting through his spadex suit and into his skin. He stayed suspended in air a few feet off the ground as Naruto flashed to the ground below him.

"Surrender and I'll cut you down." He shouted, calmly and confidently.

Gai smiled. "If your opponent had been anyone else Naruto," Gai replied "You would have just won. But your opponent is me! Shomon! Kai!"

As he opened the gate, the wiring holding him up burst away from his body. He walked towards Naruto and began cracking his knuckles.

"Do you want to keep going Naruto?" Gai asked, confident of his victory over the blonde.

"Do you?" Naruto replied cooly as he let his irises flash red.

Gai felt a shiver run down his spine. He hadn't realized that Naruto hadn't been using the power of the Kyuubi. Naruto had the upperhand for most of the fight even without using it. Gai got excited. He wanted to press the boy into using every ounce of power he had. He wanted to see just how strong the boy in front of him was. But he remembered that it wasn't the purpose of this fight.

He was just supposed to be testing the boy, evaluating for himself if he was ready to be a jounin. So far the answer to that was a resounding yes. He had come up with several exelent strategies, had managed to keep up with him in taijutsu, and had managed to hide from him for several minutes until he wanted to be found. There were only a few things Gai still wanted to see but he couldn't tell Naruto what those were. The boy would have to figure it out for himself.

"You know I do Naruto!" Gai shouted while flashing a smile at Naruto. Again Naruto could have sworn he saw the man's teeth sparkle.

_Is it some kind of genjutsu?_

"Then you asked for it." Naruto said with a smile.

_Karuma, I don't need anything more than just some chakra._

**I'll give you what I can. And while you're fighting I'll get more.**

_Awesome! Thanks Karuma!_

Naruto's eyes turned red; his pupils slitted. He looked up at Gai with a grin before disapearing in a cloud of smoke.

Gai lept backwards instinctively and began scannning the area to find his opponent. Suddenly a large group of Narutos flooded out of the forest. Gai couldn't even count how many there were, they were all moving way to fast for him to be able to do so. He rushed strait into the mob and began fighting them off. He knew the original Naruto wasn't anywhere among them and intentionally stepped right into the trap.

Suddenly from the forest he heard shout. "Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba!" A blade of wind shot out of the forest, cutting down any tree that was in it's path. It was even cutting through some of the clones, although most of them dodged. It was about to hit Gai square in the chest but he ducked below it and looked up to watch it pass. That's when he saw another Naruto in the air above him flashing through handsigns.

"Suiton: Taihoudan!" Naruto shouted. A stream of water errupted from his mouth at a boiling temperature. Gai braced himself, taking the full brunt of the attack. He managed to escape only to yet another Naruto flashing through another set of seals.

"Raiton! Kitsune no Rai!" A small fox made of lightning lept out of Naruto's hand and sprineted strait at Gai, who was still covered in water. Gai lept over the fox, barely able to dodge it.

"Bunkatsu." Naruto murmered as the fox divided into 5 smaller foxes. The made a sharp turn and ran strait back at Gai who had just landed on the ground.

Gai let out a loud shout before stomping his foot into the ground, which caused a wall of rock to form between him and the lightning foxes. The five foxes hit the wall, demolishing the rock and sending stone shrapnel flying in all directions. The stones managed to take out all of the clones. The only things stil on the battlefield were Naruto, who now had several sharp looking pieces of rock sticking out of him, and Gai, who also had a few stones stuck in him.

Naruto smiled before reaching for one of the rocks that was jutting out of his shoulder. He grimaced in pain as he pulled the blood-covered rock out and threw it like a kunai at his opponent.

Gai's gate was now closed and he was standing on sheer willpower alone. The pain running through him immobilized him. He could activate another gate but that would jst have him ending up in the hospital rather than just being able to slee the pain off in a few days. He moved slightly to take the kunai in a non-vital area, but just before the stone struck Minato flashed in front of him and caught it.

"There's no need for anymore, I think I've seen enough." Minato said as he looked around the now destroyed battlefield. Several craters scarred the area and what trees were still standing after Naruto's Kaze no Yaiba were now missing their bark and had stone spikes sticking out of them. He dropped the spike to the ground and turned to Gai.

"So what do you think Gai, does he pass?" Minato asked as he helped Gai steady himself by throwing the man's amr over his shoulder.

Gai thought for a long moment before replying. Kakashi and Obito were curious as to what the man would say but neither of them expected what came out of Gai's mouth. "Naruto, I'm going to ask you one final question to make up my mind." Minato smiled as Gai spoke, he already knew what Gai was going to ask him because it was the same question he had asked Gai years ago when making the same decision. "What is the Will of Fire?"

Naruto thought long and hard before answering. It wasn't like he did't understand the question or know the answer. It was just hard to put it in t words.

Naruto seemed slightly uncertain as he asnwered, but the answer he gave made everyone around him happy to hear. "I guess, to me it means that the entire village is like my family and I want to do evrything I can to protect them. That's why I've chosen my nindo."

"You've already decided on something like that?" Obito asked slightly surprsed.

Naruto nodded. "I'll never give up! And I'll never go back on my word! That's my nindo!" He shouted excitedly.

Everyone around him was smiling, not only was the boy naturally gifted. He was inteligent and driven. His dad wasn't sure if he'd ever been more proud of his son then he was in that moment. He was proud knowing that he and his wife had instilled that level of a drive to succeed while at the same time being so dedicated to selflessness.

"So what's your decission Gai?" Kakashi asked as he folded his arms.

Gai flashed a smile and a thumbs up at Naruto. "You pass in my book, my youthful adversary! Perhaps I should make you my new rival!"

Naruto laughed for a second before he remembered something. "Hey dad, can you set Gai on the ground for a second?"

The sudden request had caught Minato slightly off guard. "Uh, sure." He replied as he gently lowered Gai to the ground.

Naruto kneeled down beside Gai and closed his eyes for a second before the Fox's Cloak began to appear over his body. He then placed a hand on Gai's shoulder and everyon's jaw dropped once they saw the red-maisma like substance beging to cover the Jounin as well.

"Naruto. What're you-" Rin began to ask until she realized what was happening. Gai's wounds were healing. Slowly, but they were healing. She rubbed her eyes to make usre that this in fact what she was seeing. She blinked a few times just to be safe and by that time Gai was up and moving like the fight had never happened.

No one knew what to say, not even Gai. The only signs that he had even been injured were the holes in his clothes.

All eyes were now on Naruto who was now focusing on healing himself. Once his injuries were healed he stood up and dusted himself off to find that everyone was now staring at him with their mouths wide open.

Rin spoke up first. "How did you do that?"

"Well, basically I can pass Karuma's chakra to others which when I combine a small amount of healing ninjutsu can heal people about as fast as I heal myself. The only problem with it while I'm healing someone else, I heal much slower."

"So basically you can pass your self healing on to someone else? Where'd you learn to do that?" Rin asked, trying to figure out how Naruto knew such an advanced healing jutsu.

"Well, I kinda taught myself when I was in Ame. We found this guy who had several kunai in him. I was doing everything I could to help him, but nothing was working. I had expended all of my chakra so Karuma lent me some. And then well it just sort of happened. After that he gave me the nickname Shinobi no Kitsune because I wouldn't give him my real name."

Rin was fscinated that he could learn something like that in a heat of the moment attemt. _He really is a natural. Full body healing like that is something only gifted medic-ninja can do. Tsunade-sama and Shizune are the only two I've ever met that were capable of something like really is a genius._

Minato cleared his throat. "Well if anyone had any doubts before, I'm willing to bet they're non-existent now." He sadi with a smile. "Naruto, I here-by promote you to the rank of Jounin. Report to my office tomorrow afternoon for your first assignment."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Naruto replied with an ear-to-ear grin.

Everyone started congratulating him on his promotion and Obito offered to treat him to Ichiraku.

Naruto just looked down at his shoes.

"You still havn't spoken to her?" Rin asked in a caring tone.

Naruto just kept his head down and replied. "I havn't even seen her. I've been trying all week but her dad just keps saying she's not here."

Obito put a smile on his face and put a hand on the blondes shoulder. "Don't worry Naruto, these things work themselves out."

Kakashi was about to make a remark but before he could Rin punched him hard enough to send him flying into a tree.

Rin was shaking out her hand while everyone else laughed as they watched Kakashi pull himself out of the tree.

That night Naruto went to show his mom his new Jounin vest but instead found a note on the fridge saying:

_Naruto,_

_Good job making Jounin! I'm so proud of you! Sorry I'm not there to tell you this myself but I had to leave on a mission before you got home. I'll be gone for about a week. When I get back we'll go out and celebrate!_

_Love you!_

_Mom_

Naruto smiled as he read the letter. Even though she couldn't be there she still left him a note.

_I love you too, Mom._

The next day Naruto decided to go help out at the Academy again until it was time for him to report to his dad's office. He was telling the kids about the importance of proper chakra control when he noticed the same girl taking notes again. He decided he would call on her and ask her a question about it.

"Hey, you in the back. Yeah you! The one with the pink hair!" Naruto said, motioning for the girl to stand up. "What's your name?"

"H-Haruno S-Sakura." the girl said. It almost seemed like she was afraid to make eye contact. Naruto figured it might be because she thought she was in trouble or something so he decided to make it clear why he was calling on her.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything. I just wanted to take a look at the notes you've been taking." Naruto said with a smile.

"I, Uh, don't think that's a good idea." Sakura replied with a blush forming on her cheeks.

"Nonsense!" Naruto replied with a toothy grin. "Bring them up here!"

Sakura gulped and nodded as she picked up het notepad. She walked slowly down the steps to the front of the room and looked down at the ground before handing her notes to Naruto.

Naruto looked down at the notepad expecting to see notes on chakra control but instead found "Namikaze Sakura" written all over the page in hearts.

A bright red blush came across his face as he ripped the piece of paper out of the notebook and told Sakura to go sit down. She nodded and he sent a small amount of fire chakra into the paper, igniting it.

"And if you have good chakra control you can do things like that." He said as a bell signaled lunch break. "Well have a good day guys, and good luck with your graduation exam this afternoon!"

With that he flashed out of the room and into his dad's office, only a few minutes earlier than he was supposed to be there.

"Ah, Naruto. You're early." Minato said as Naruto flashed in.

"Yeah, I just got done helping Iruka-sensei out at the academy since I had some free time." Naruto said as he put his hands behind his head. "So what kind of assignment do you have for me?"

"Well, you have two options." Minato said, knowing that neither of the two would appeal to his son. "You can either work in the hospital with Rin-"

Naruto shivered a bit inside. He hated hospital. "I'll take the other option."

"You havn't even heard it yet..."

"It's better than a hosptial."

"Then you'll be this year's team 7 Squad Captain." Minato said as he began filling out the paperwork.

"Yeah, I'm gonna be- Wait, WHAT?!" Naruto asked frantically. "Why me?!"

"Kakashi recommended you for ANBU under him but I don't think that would be a good fit for you. Rin recommended you be trained as a full-blown Medic-Nin and based off of the display yesterday you could even give Tsunade-sama a run for her money. Gai and Obito recommended you lead a genin squad due to the fact that you're well skilled all around and have a nack for teaching. Iruka tells me as soon as you step in front of the class everyone starts listening." Minato said without ever looking up from the stack of papers.

Naruto really wanted to join Kakashi in ANBU. That was actually where he had been hoping to go. He didn't really have a leg to stand on in the argument though considering he had already agreed.

"Fine, so who are they?" Naruto asked as he crossed his arms.

Minato picked up a folder and handed it to Naruto without ever stopping his writting. "Two of them are going to be a bit rough around the edges, but there's one in there I think you'll like."

Naruto couldn't beleive his eyes as he looked down at the folder. _You've got to be kidding me..._

"Be at the academy first thing in the morning." Minato said, still writting.

"7am?"

"7am."

And with that Naruto flashed to his house to prepare for the impending headache.

All of the Akatsuki were gathered in their cave using their holograms. Danzo and Kisame were there in person, standing in their usual positions.

"Namikaze Kushina is away from the village. Now would be our best chance to capture the Kyuubi." Danzo said to the group.

"Where exactly is she?" Pein asked, his curiosity piqued.

"She's on a mission to deliver a message to the Kazekage." Kisame replied.

Danzo picked up where he left off, "Our plan is to amush her on the return trip to Konoha."

"Make it subtle. We don't want to give Konoha a reason to come after us. Make it look like it was done by Suna-nin." Pein said, satisfied with the plan.

"Very well, Pein-sama." Danzo said with a grin coming across his face.

_Finally I will get my revenge!_

A/N End Chapter! What do you guys think?

Also, I think my copy-n-paste hasn't been working so some editing may be in the future... My bad...

What will happen to Kushina? Who is going to be in Naruto's squad? Will Gai ever stop wearing spandex?! Will Naruto ever see Ayame again?! Where are Lee and Hana?! WHY AM I ASKING ALL OF YOU GUYS THIS?!

Mostly because I havn't really made any of these decissions myself. So please review and tell me what you'd like to see! and NarutoKushina I already know what you're gonna say about Ayame. Haha. Anyways take it easy and until next time!

**Also, I meant to post this on the last Chapter. But this is the 11th Chapter of my first FanFiction and I want to thank everyone who's supported me. It means a lot and this is a huge milestone. I sincerely thank all of you who have given me feedback, followed and favorite. . Just know that if you guys ever want some feedback on your stories, I'll be more than happy to read them and give you reviews. Sereiously, I can't thank you guys enough. I hope you guys all enjoy what is to come as the story progresses further down the road.**

-SurrealCereal-


	12. Chapter 12

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 12

A/N So this is my third attempt to write this chapter due to some technical issues. First time my brother spilled his beer on my computer, then my girlfiend's son broke my laptop. So now I'm working off of my back-up laptop I had when I was in the military. Its nothing fancy so we'll just see how this goes.

I had a game to announce Naruto's team, but I don't have the patience for that again... So instead I'm going to throw in some context clues to see if you guys can figure it out. Anyone who reviews with the correct team gets a shout-out in the next chapter.

One final thing,

NARUTO AND AYAME BROKE UP! It needs to be understood for the plot to progree in the direction that I want they are broken up. She dumped him just before he left with Jiraiya. Naruto still has feelings for her, but right now we are unsure of Ayame's feelings since Naruto hasn't seen her since he got back.

So with that said, let's jump strait into the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, mkay.

End A/N

Naruto was sitting under the only tree in his back yard. He had been here since he had read his mom's note. He had a hard time picturing them working together or listening to him, but who could blame them? He was the same age as them.

Well this is gonna suck, Naruto thought as he looked up at the clouds, Hopefully he's as humble as his brother. He was mostly concerned about one member in particular. He felt himself drifting off to sleep when he heard someone approaching. He looked up to see a massive dog walking towards him with a familiar girl on its back.

"Hey Hana!" Naruto shouted as he stood up, happy to see his former teammate, "How've you-"

He was cut off by the girl slapping the piss out of him. "You've been home for a week and haven't come to see me yet?! And I find you under a tree sleeping?! Did you even see Lee before he left?!"

Naruto picked himself up off the ground and started rubbing his red cheek. "I'm sorry Hana, I just got busy with my Jounin exam."

Hana looked the boy over, "So how'd you do?"

"Fine I guess. I had to fight Gai." Naruto said before spitting out a small amount of blood. "Did you have to hit me that hard?!"

"You deserved it." Hana said, crossing her arms.

"You're such a drag." Naruto said, still rubbing his cheek.

"But you didn't answer me! How did you do?" Hana persisted.

"I ended up passing." Naruto said, spitting blood again. "Seriously, that fucking hurt!"

"Meh, quit whining!" Hana said, looking down at Naruto with an aggressive stance, "Or do I have to hit you again?"

Naruto didn't notice before but Hana was now several inches taller than he was. Another thing he had failed to notice was that her body had begun developing a bit. It was then that he remembered Jiraiya's golden rule _'Never get caught checking out women, gaki.'_ He was painfully reminded of it by Hana's deep blush followed by a punch that sent him strait into the tree he had been sitting under before.

_That pervert..._ Hana thought to herself as she shook out her now sore hand. "Seriously Naruto, I think you learned a little too much from Jiraiya."

"After watching that, I'd be inclined to agree with you Hana." Minato said as he stepped outside.

"Hokage-sama!" Hana shouted, flustered. She hadn't heard him arrive. "I, uh.. Sorry."

"No worries Hana, I actually need to speak to the two of you." Minato said, trying to get the girl to relax.

Naruto stood himself up once he heard the tone his dad was using. Naruto had named it his dad's 'I'm worried, but I don't want you to know' tone. He dusted himself off before walking over to where Hana, Akariko, and his dad were standing.

"Before I tell you this, I need you to understand something. This is not a glory mission. It is a 'if you see anything that doesn't set right with you, get out of there' mission."

Hana and Naruto looked at each other before nodding at Minato to continue.

"The two of you are to rendezvous with Kakashi at the main gate. Afterwards you will provide support to Lee, Itachi and Kushina."

"Are you sure they need our help? Everyone on that team is really talented." Hana stated.

Minato sighed. "The reason I'm having you assist them is because of a report Jiraiya just got from one of his contacts. According to that, the Akatsuki are planning to attack Kushina on their return trip." Naruto started to speak up in anger, but Minato lifted his hand to silence his now pissed off son. "They'll be in Suna for three days. I want your team to escort them home safely Naruto."

Naruto didn't think he heard his father correctly. "W-wait, did you just say my team?"

"I did. You're going to be squad captain for this mission. This is also an ANBU mission, so you'll need to dress appropriately." Minato said to his now shocked son.

"But, what about my students?" Naruto asked, "Plus you'll be sending them a second target!"

"I know." Minato said in a solemn voice, "But you and Kakashi are the only two who have dealt with the Akatsuki, which is why I'm sending the two of you."

"Then why am I squad captain?! Kakashi is the senior Jounin!"

"After speaking to Kakashi, he and I both believe that you have more knowledge about the Akatsuki than he does, giving you a strategic advantage."

Naruto thought hard for a second. He was excited to get an ANBU mission, but at the same time he wasn't excited to be the captain. "But, what if I mess up? What if I make a bad call and someone gets hurt?" He was looking down at the ground now, fighting back tears. "I'm not you, dad!"

Minato and Hana were shocked, neither of them had seen this side of Naruto before. He was normally so calm and collected. Minato's father instincts kicked in and somehow he knew exactly how to handle it.

"Of course you're not me Naruto." Minato said, pulling his son into a hug, "And no one expects you to be. Everyone has faith in you because you're you, not because you're my son. Now it's time for you to have some faith in yourself son."

Naruto couldn't fight back the tears anymore. They streamed down his face as he cried into his father's chest. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"You really mean that dad?" Naruto asked, looking up at his father.

"Naruto, you're twice the shinobi i was at your age and it's time you realized that." Minato said, smiling down at his son.

Naruto wiped his eyes and nodded at his dad before rushing into the house to change.

"Well that was weird..." Hana said, scratching the back of her head.

"I had no idea he felt that way." Minato said, sadness in his voice. "But for right now, you need to focus on the mission. Take this and go change as well." Minato was handing Hana a full ANBU set of gear.

"A wolf mask?" Hana said sceptically as she looked at the mask in her hands. "I kinda figured I'd get a dog."

"I could give you a cat one if you prefer." Minato joked. "But take this as well. It's one of my sealed kunai. Just pump a little chakra into the seal if things go bad andI'll come to help."

"Wolf's fine." Hana said as she took the kunai before rushing into the house to change.

A few minutes later Naruto, Hana, and Akariko met up with Kakashi at the village gate. Hana instantly understood why she was wearing the Wolf mask when she saw Kakashi in the Dog mask. Naruto was wearing the same Fox mask from when he was Shinobi no Kitsune. Hana even took a minute to put a bit of war paint on Akariko. The paint was black and in a striped patern. Naruto had joked that the giant dog looked like a white tiger. Akariko had bitten him for that one.

Everyone huddled up just outside the gate to get the rest of the mission details from Naruto.

"I don't know exactly which of the Akatsuki we'll be facing so keep your eyes open for anything. Wolf, you and Akariko will be in front, I'll be in the middle, Dog you and your summons will bring up the rear. Keep your eyes and ears open for anything. We'll have to cut through the forset to get there in time with minimal time to rest so I grabbed some food pelets from the Akamichi compound before we leaft. Everyone take some."

Naruto pulled out a small bag with little black pills inside of it. Hana and Kakashi reached inside and grabbed a few each. Once they put them in their tool bags Naruto continued.

"No names from here on out, we'll be doing call outs by masks." Dog and Wolf both nodded in agreement.

"Now let's get going. We have to be quick."

And with that they disappeared into the trees, the sun begging to set as they set out on their mission.

A few days later Fox, Wolf, and Dog arrived at the spot they were meant to rendezvous with the other team at. They sat in the branches above the road, waiting to see the familiar faces they were looking for.

"They should pass through here at some point today." Fox stated. "As soon as they do, assume defensive positions around them. Wolf, I want you and Akariko on the ground ahead of them smelling for traps. Dog and I will take positions in the trees above them. If anyone sees or hears anything, fire a flare into the sky and we'll move from there."

Wolf and Dog nodded in agreement and soon after they saw the group on the road below them.

"That's them, we should move." Dog said.

"Hai!" Wolf and Fox said in agreement before moving to their respective positions.

(Try to keep up with all the scene changes from here, there's gonna be quite a few)

A few days later, they were about 3/4 of the way home when suddenly Fox saw a bright red flare light up the night sky. He and Dog rushed down to defend the group. They only hoped that Wolf would regroup with them there.

_  
(Super shout-out to anyone who gets the two references in this section)

Kushina, Lee, and Itachi were completely unaware of their escort detail. So as soon as they saw that red flare light up the sky, they thought they were under attack.

At the same time they saw movement around them. Itachi launched several kunai at one of the attackers. They easily deflected the barrage and immediately took position around the group. Kushina was about to attack when she saw the familiar blonde locks of hair.

"What's going on here?" Kushina demanded.

"You're under attack, we're here to escort you home." Dog said just as wolf made her way to the group.

Fox looked at her and instantly realized something was wrong.

_Where's Akariko?_

"The crow caws at midnight." Fox said as he pulled out a kunai.

"And the cat sours the basil." Wolf replied.

"Where's Akariko?" Fox asked. As if to answer his question, the massive dog burst though the brush and into the road barking angrily.

"Now what, Fox?" Dog asked.

"Give me a second, Skippy." Fox retorted.

_Skippy?_ Dog thought, slightly annoyed.

Fox needed a plan, and he needed it now. They main objective is his mom. They don't know who he is yet so right now all that mattered was protecting her.

He was still thinking things over when two figures walked up to them in black cloaks with red clouds on them. Naruto instantly recognized both of them.

_Danzo and Kisame. _

**We need to leave now kit!**

_What?! Why?!_

**Danzo has several Sharingans implanted in his body. With those he could control either half of me that you and your mom carry.**

_Shit. Any ideas?_

**You won't like it, but yes.**

"How have you been Danzo?" Fox asked in a slightly arrogant tone.

"Aren't you a little short to be in ANBU?" Kisame retorted.

"Aren't you too much like a shark to be a shinobi?" Fox replied back.

"This brat's got a mouth on him." Kisame said, clearly getting pissed off. "I'll have to show him how I deal with brats!"

Kisame charged at Fox, but before his sword came all the way around he felt a knee being pushed strait into his jaw. He looked up to see Itachi's red eyes glaring down at him.

"Now Danzo, I suggest we talk about that right arm of yours." Itachi said, turning to the older man.

"I should have known you would see it Itachi. You visual prowess is unrivaled." Danzo said as he began removing bandages. He soon stopped when he saw a bright orange light in the road. "What the hell is that?!"

(Flashback)

Naruto was sitting in front of a giant waterfall. The final instructor Jiraiya had wanted him to meet was man called Killer Bee. Bee was a bit odd, but a good person at heart. He had also managed to become friends with the Bijuu inside of him, the Hachibi.

Naruto had sat under this water fall once a day for the past five months. He had never understood the point of what he was supposed to be doing. Every day he would fight an evil version of himself.

Evil Naruto knew all the same moves he did, but his emotions were a little on the emo side. It seemed like it was mostly self pity, but occasionally evil Naruto would say something about wishing his father wasn't hokage. In the end Naruto was never able to beat the evil version of himself, because he never understood the point of it.

"You don't even need the rest of the training, ya fool!" Bee said as they were departing, "All you need is to understand one thing, and you'll have it fool, ya fool! Ask Karuma for some help once you do and you'll be set, yo!"

He remembered his dad's words just before they left the village and everything clicked into place for him.

**Now you get it, Kit.**

_Will you help me Karuma?_

**I've got nothing better to do, do I?**

Naruto laughed at the joke as he felt his and Karuma's chakra merging. He could sense everyone's chakra around him. He opened his eyes to fid that his whole body was glowing orange and mostly comprised of chakra, including the mask he was wearing.

"Time to do what should have been done years ago, Danzo."

A/N What the fuck just happened?! Anyways guys, remember to review with your answers for either the squad or the references it you want the shout out.

Also, I found the spell check for the program I use. Damn thing was fucking hidden. I don't think they wanted me to find it.

Next chapter:

Will Naruto beat Danzo? Will the legendary duo of Kisame and Itachi fight? What will happen to Kushina?! Why is Lee there?! Who is on Naruto's team?! How did Jiraiya get this info?!

Okay, so maybe not that last one but the others will likely be answered. Anyways guys, remember to Review/Favorite/Follow!

-SurrealCereal-


	13. Chapter 13

**Naruto:**

**The Pride of the Leaf**

**Chapter 13**

A/N: Sorry about the long update guys. I've been an emotional roller coaster for the past week because of a family issue. **_My uncle killed himself_** this past week and it hit me hard.

So here comes a sad story really quick. And 'm going to be real with all of you.

I didn't meet my dad until I was 18. Until that time the only two consistant male figures in my life were my uncle and my grandfather. I always looked up to my uncle because he was this really cool, energetic, fun loving guy. Even when things were at their lowest he would make other people laugh to cheer himself up. He would ge happiness from seeing other people's smiling faces. He had this one of a kind goofy ass laugh that I'd do anything to hear one more time. He was frinedly to complete strangers, dontated his time to charity and even employed homeless people. He'd take them to his house, give them a plae to crash until they got their first pay check and buy them two sets of clothes to wear to work. He was a great man, and my hero. When I was groing up I wanted to be even half the man he was He always gave everyone else help and told them no matter what knocks them down, they could still pick theselves up.

I still believe that.

Guys, suicide is not the answer to anything ever. It is the final act of selfishness of a coward. I hate to talk bad about my uncle, but it's true. If you could only see his 3 kids, his wife, my mom, my grandparents, my bother, my sister you'd understand.

It does not make the pain go away. It amplifies it and puts it on the people who care about you.

If any of you are ever going through anything that you want to talk about. Please. Message me. Call your parents. Call siblings. Friends. Anyone. Just talk about it. There is no problem you will ever face that cannot be handled. Just hang tough, it'll all work out.

Now with that said, let's get to the chapter. I'm a little teary and all so I appologize for any grammar, spelling issues, or poorly written parts. This will not be one of my better chapters.

I DON'T OWN NARUTO

End A/N

Naruto could feel his chakra overflowing in his body. It felt warm, like a hot fluid had just been poured over him. He stood in the center of the road, trying to figure out how long he could keep this form up.

I'd give you about 2 minutes, Kit. You need to make this quick.

_That's more than I need! _Naruto said in his head to Karuma as a grin came across his face. He pulled out several of his sealed Kunai and threw them at Danzo.

"I alredy know this trick of your's brat. It's still years too early for you to fight me!" Dnazo shouted at the boy as he easily evaded all of the kunai. As he sidestepped the last one he made a dire realization and immediately began to try and think of a way out of the trap he'd been caught in.

"It's no use!" Naruto shouted as the kunai bored themselved into near-by trees. "The wires already have you!"

Naruto poured lightning chakra into the wires he still held in his hand. The electircity arced across the wires as Danzo let out scream.

As the screaming stopped, Naruto dropped the wires. "So he's been dealt with." Naruto said with a certain satisfaction in his voice as he turned away from his enemy.

"Not yet brat." Danzo said.

Naruto turned to the man to see that not only alive and unharmed but free of his trap as well.

"Izanagi." Itachi said as he walked up beside Naruto. "This just got personal, Danzo."

Naruto looked at the man to realize that Itachi was absolutely livid. His sharingans were spinning too fast for Naruto to see and his chakra was flaring wildly.

The air was thick around Naruto. You could sense the bloodlust in the air. He clenched his fist and bit his lip before extending his arm at Danzo and crushing him to death. It had only taken a second. That was all that he needed.

Naruto was about to lower his guard when Itachi spoke "Not yet. We aren't done here."

"My, my Naruto. You sure have gotten violent in the time I've been away." Danzo said, stepping back onto the road from the cover of some bushes. "I would love to see more of this side of you but we're on a bit of a schedule."

Kit, end this NOW! You've only got a few seconds left.

Naruto's brain went into overdrive mode. _Somehow, Danzo was able to turn back time. Itachi knows the abiity, so it must have something to do with the sharingans. But I don't have time to get that explanation._

Karuma! I need all of your chakra!

All of it?! WHY!?

Just do it!

Naruto felt a surge of power as he recieved all of Karuma's chakra. It overwealmed him just how powerful his friend was. He caughed for a second as the chakra made its way through his system. He then dashed towards Itachi and grabbed his wrist.

"What are you-" Itachi started, but was cut off as Naruto flashed the two of them to Rock Lee who was standing in a circle with everyone else, their backs to the center.

Glad he never got my seals removed...

Naruto then extended his arms around everyone as Kisame came bursting through a tree.

"What the hell?!" Kisame shouted as he rushed at the group, but he reached them too late. Naruto had already flashed them far away to safety.

"DAMN IT!" Kisame roared, his voice echoing through the forest.

"Calm down Kisame." Danzo said with a calm demeanor.

"Why?" Kisame asked angrily as he got in the older man's face, "They just made us look like idiots!"

"Exactly. Which is why we're going with our back up plan." Danzo said with a grin.

Kisame smiled as he realized what the plan entailed. "It's a ways off but the chunin exams will never be the same again."

A/N Sorry about the long update and short chapter guys. I really am, but please bear with me for now. I'm strugling to find motivation to write with all that's been going on. The next chapter will be awesome. I promise.

-SurrealCereal-


	14. Chapter 14

**Naruto:**

**The Pride of the Leaf**

**Chapter 14**

A/N: So I'm feeling a bit better now. Thanks everyone for the support. So as of right now I'm good. I've got a buddy who drew the cover picture of the story. I know him as iKickZombies. Great guy. And I know you're reading this man! Thanks for the pic and te suport!

Right now I'm watching Adventure Time, I've got a Coca-Cola, my laptop's fixed, and I've quit smoking. A lot of good going on. Also I've done a lot of work with my impressions and will be uploading a video to YouTube.

Also, last time I'm addressing this. Rin and Naruto will not be a pairing in this story. She is in her 20's. He is 12. Not doing it. Just, no. Maybe another story where they're the same age, but not this one. Just, no.

So with that said, let's get this chapter going.

DiscLAMEr

I don't own Naruto.

Minato was sitting behind his desk as the sun was begining to set. He had stayed at his office later than usual tonight. If there were no hicups, his family would be home today.

_I sure hope they're okay._ He thought to himself as her stared out the window. He looked down t the seal on his arm for the hundreth time that day, hoping he would feel the slight burn of someone pouring chakra into one of his seals. Again, like all the other times though, he felt nothing. _Please, be okay._

He turned in his chair to turn back to his desk. He began sorting through the paperwork regarding his son's team. Just as he was opeing the folder to look at the contents a sudden crash filled the office accompanied by a cloud of dust.

Minato was in shock, caught completely off guard. He pulled out a kunai and launched it at the sourch of the crash. He heard the kunai hit its mark as the kunai bore its way into flesh.

As the smoke cleared he was horrified by what he saw. Naruto and the entire team were sitting in the center of the room. He looked around frantically to find where the kunai had struck. He didn't have to look very hard.

Naruto was laying face down in the center of the room, the kunai jutting from his side. Everyone else in the room had taken notice to it as well.

Kushina's face twisted in agony as she saw the kunai protruding from her son's side.

"NARUTO!" She cried as she lept to her son, holding him in her arms, as tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"I'll get him to the hospital!" Minato said in a shaky voice.

"Havn't you done enough!?" Kushina shouted, enraged at her husband.

Lee steped forward and slung the boy onto his back. "I will take him." And with that he began leaping through the village, trying to get his friend to the hospital as quickly as he could.

Kushina, Minato and company followed as quickly as they could, but none of them could match Lee's speed. The village was dark now. Only a few street lamps lit the village's streets.

At the hospital, Lee was met at the door by Rin.

"What happened?!" She exclaimed as she took the boy off Lee's back and loaded him onto a gurney.

Lee scratched the back of his head and looked down at the floor. "I do not know how to explain that."

Rin just shook her head before focusing on Naruto's wound and the kunai that caused it.

"Wait a second," She said as she got a closer look at the handle of the weapon still stuck in the blonde's side, "Isn't this one of Minato-sensei's kunai?" She was in shock. What had happened? How did his father's blade get stuck in his side? But nevermind that for now. Naruto's life was in danger.

She began pushing the gurney into the ICU of the hospital. As she pushed, several doctors came along side her to rovide aid during the surgery.

Once in the operating room, the nurses began giving Naruto controlled doses of sedatives. Based off of Kushina's pregnancy they knew to give him double the normal dosage. She looked at the wound and began trying to thing of the safest way to remove it. It was hilt deep in his left side, narrowly avoing his lungs, ribs, and kidney.

_So I don't think it hit anything vital._ She thought as she began to slowly remove the kunai. _I'm sorry about this Naruto. _And with one quick, controlled tug she pulled the kunai the rest of the way out. She knew Naruto felt that, even if he was heavily sedated. Mostly due to the grimace and grunting afterwards.

Blood poured from the wound and she quickly applied pressure to it while using medical ninjutsu to heal the wound. As she did so, she noticed a strange reddish color emmiting from Naruto. The wound was reduced to a small cut right in front of her eyes.

_Kyuubi... _Rin thought to herself, for once thankful for the creature. _I mean, Karuma._ She then began stitching up Naruto's side, hoping the boy wouldn't be too mad at her for the way she got the blade out of him.

Once she was done, Naruto was wheeled to a near-by room to rest. _Knowing him I'll be pulling those out in the morning._

She stepped into the waiting room, where everyone was well... waiting. Kushina was crying on Minato's shoulder while he looked completely distraught. Everyone else was standing around and as soon as she stepped int the room, all eyes went on her.

_It'd be nice if this happened while I wasnt here... _Rin thought with a sigh. "He's going to be fine. Karuma healed the wound as soon as I removed the kunai. He needed a few stitches but that's it. He got lucky nothing vital was hit." She paused for a second, knowing that this next part wasn't going to be easy to answer. She turned to her sensei. "So what happened?"

Minato looked down at the ground, saddened by the accident. He tried to find the words to describe what happend but he couldn't find them. He found himself with a lump in his throat just by even thinking about how he had almost taken his son's life.

As he spoke, the words caught in his throat. "I was sitting in my office... I w-was wondering why they were taking so long to get home... I zoned out... There was a-a crash... I threw the kunai out of re-reflex and i-it h-hit N-Naruto." He broke down in tears as he finished. Kakashi placed his hand on his sensei's shoulder in an attemt to console him. Kushina hugged her husband as he wept, tears begining to stream down her cheeks as well. She was just happy her son was safe. She knew Minato had only reacted. He had no way of knowing who was in his office through all that smoke, she knew that.

Rin sighed. She'd never known her sensei to be the jumpy type. Normally he was lways so calm and collected. _It was probably just stress. That mission had a lot riding on it for him._

"Everyone just go home and get some rest. Naruto will be just fine in the morning. I'd evn wager he'll be ready to meet his team." Rin said. Kushina started to speak but was cut off by the brunette "I'll stay with him, just go."

Everyone filed out of the room while Rin made her way back to Naruto's room. He stirred a bit as she walked in, a sign the sedatives were wearing off. She took a seat beside his bed and soon fell asleep with the moon peakng in through the window.

She awoke a few hours later to something poking her cheek repetatively. She tried to smack it away for a few more minutes of sleep, but whatever it was wasn't having it.

She opened her eyes a bit to see what exactly was jabbing her while she slept to see a pair of blue eyes staring back at her.

"Yo, Rin-chan." Naruto said as he poked her cheek once again.

She opened her eyes all the way to realize she was resting her head on the side of his bed and a large puddle of drool was under he chin. Her face turned bright red as she wipped the drool from her chin and immediately began appologizing to the blonde.

"It's fine." Naruto said with a laugh. She'd never heard him laugh like that before. Normally Naruto was too busy trying to immitate Kakashi to laugh. She knew the boy looked up to her friend but it was almost wierd to the extent that the boy copied him.

_Maybe this made him realize its best to be himself. _Rin thought with a smile as she enjoyed hearing the boy's luaghter.

"But, hey Rin." Naruto said, as he suddenly stopped laughing. "Do you mind taking these stitches out? I kinda need to go do something." He was flashing her this big toothy grin. She couldn't help but smile back as she nodded in agreement.

As soon as the stitches were out Naruto lept off of the bed and bega stretching. She heard several of his joints pop and every time one did, you would hear him grunt in relief. Once he was finished stretching he put on a fresh change of clothes someone had dropped off for him.

It was his usual black hitai-ate, a black short sleeved shirt, grey hoodie and black pants. Once he had the clothes on Rin handed him his tool pack and Naruto lept from the window.

"Wait!" She called out after him. "You have to check out first!"

"You can take care of that!" Naruto said with a smile as he landed on the roof of the building across the street. "I gotta go! Later Rin-chan!" And with that he was gone. No doubt using his and his father's justu to leave.

_He could've done that from the begining. He wanted me to watch him leave just to piss me off... _Rin thought to herself as her hands clenched into fists. "NARUTO! GET BACK HERE!"

She could've sworn she heard him laughing in the distance. So she just shook her head, closed the window, and went to go fill out the boy's check out papers.

Naruto made his way throught the village to his dad's office. The sun hadn't been up long and dew was still on the ground. He stopped on a rooftop when he realized he was about to pass Ichiraku. _No better time than the present. _He thought to himself, and with that he lept down from the roof and onto the street.

He pulled back the familiar curtain and a flurry of emotions hit him all at once. He was happy, sad, confused, excited, scared, and a little angry. The source of all this was the face of a familar brown haired girl who was standing beside her father in the ramen stand. To him it felt like looking in a mirror. It was as if she was feeling the exact same flurry of emotions.

"N-Naruto." Ayame said, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Hey Ayame." Naruto said with a slightly awkward grin while scratching the back of his head. "Mind if I get my usual order?"

"S-sure." She replied, turning to her father.

Naruto sat in silence while his food was being made. He wanted to make things right between him and Ayame but he didn't know what to say. Luckily for him, the old man knew how to get him started.

"So Naruto, how was your training with Jiraiya? Learn any new techniques?" Teuchi asked with a grin. He knew Naruto still held a candle for his daughter, but he honestly didn't know how she felt. She hadn't talked about him since he left, well aside from the phase where she had thrown kunai at a photo of the boy.

She looked at Naruto, all he could read on her face was curiousity. He smiled at the old man before answering him. "Yeah, Jiraiya taught me a lot! And more than one new technique!"

Teuchi smiled wide at the boy. "I'd love to see them sometime but, the shop keeps me busy. Ayame, why don't you have him show you and then you tell me about it?"

"I'd rather not, dad." Ayame said, adverting her gaze to the ground. "I don't think Sasuke would like that."

A/N: So muh more I want to write but I'm gonna let that fester a bit. Thanks for reading guys. Next chapter will pick up at this exact moment! Anyways! Take it easy and as always **FAVORITE/REVIEW/FOLLOW. **Next chapter very soon to follow so stay tuned!

-SurrealCereal-


	15. Chapter 15

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 15

A/N LETS DO THIS!

I Don't Own Naruto

End A/N

Naruto was in shock, had he heard her right? But that name sounded familiar. Where had he heard it from. It only took him a second to figure out who this was. Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto gritted his teeth. He ha never been too fond of Sasuke, but right now he hated him. He felt as if someone had poured hot sand down his throat.

"S-So you're dating Sasuke now?" Naruto asked, clenching his fists.

"What?!" Ayame shrieked, "No! We're just friends. He just doesn't like you for some reason."

"Oh, well that's cool I guess." Naruto replied, unable to meet Ayame's eyes.

"Yeah, he started coming here a few months after you left. Soon we started hanging out. He's asked me out butI keep telling him no." the brunette said with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Why?" Naruto asked. He didn't know why, but he was eager to hear her answer. He heart was beating a mile a minute and his palms were becoming sweaty.

Ayame blushed and looked down at her feet. "Well, I-" She started, but was cut off by her father.

"Order up!" Teuchi shouted as he placed a steaming bowl of ramen in front of Naruto.

"Thanks, Teuchi-san!" Naruto said with a grin as he looked at the old man. He turned to look back at Ayame, but she was gone. _What the...? _He shrugged it off and began devouring his ramen with his usual vigor.

After he was done, he paid for his meal and went to go see his dad in his office. Despite the near tragedy that had occured the day before, he still had to go to work and pretend like the whole thing had never happened.

He entered th office through the window and found his dad sitting behind his desk which was covered with stacks of papers. Minato greeted Naruto with a smile before handing him a folder.

"They've been waiting to meet you since you left." Minato said as Naruto opened up the folder. "I made sure they were all going to be able to cooperate already but you still need to administer their final test."

"Understood, Hokage-sama." Naruto said as he skimmed through his teams file. Any of them looked decent enough on paper, but how they would do in the field is someting completely diferent.

"Have they been given a time and place to meet me?" Naruto asked.

"No," Minato replied, "Currently I have them running erands around the builind during the day."

"So they're all here then?"

"Yep, just let me signal them." Minato said. He then let out a loud whistle and three kids burst through the door. They were all around Naruto's age and were all wearing new hitai-ate's.

Stood in front of them and scanned them. They were all from the class he had been in during his brief time at the academy. He instantly recongized all three of them, not all of the recognition was positive though. He sighed when he recognized the pink haired girl who looked like she was about to faint at the mere sight of him.

One was kicking the ground at his feet and grumbling while glaring at Naruto. And the last was staring out the window. He almost looked bored.

"So what's going on Hokage-sama? I thought you said you'd only signal us when our sensei was here, but all I see is some pipsqueak." Saskue said in an agitated tone, still glaring at Naruto.

"We all know who he is Sasuke. Quit being such a drag." Shikamaru replied in an apathetic tone.

"Come on you guys, let Naruto-kun talk." Sakura said, never taking her eyes off of the blond.

Naruto shook his head. _I have to work with this?_

Suck it up, kit. Remember, someone had to teach you once.

True...

Naruto cleared his throat. "My name is Namikaze Naruto and I've been appointed as your jounin instructor." Naruto paused they because he saw two reactions and neither of them pleased him. Sasuke was visibly scowling at him and he could swear he saw Saskura's eyes turn into hearts. He figured it had just been a trick of the eyes and continued on. "Just, meet me at training ground 3 in the morning." And with that he lept out the window to go clear his head.

Minato sighed as he watched his son leave. "He forgot to tell you a few things about tomorrow."

"Probably because he's a total dobe." Sasuke said.

"Stow it, Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. "I want to hear what he has to say."

"There's a chance it could give us an advantage so I want to hear it too." Shikamaru chimed in.

"As I was saying." Minato said, cutting off any further conversation between the three. "If you pass you're genin. If you fail it's back to the academy. Also, make sure you skip breakfast otherwise you'll be tasting it a second time."

"Seems like a pretty big detail to forget." Shikamaru said. "Is there any way to just opt out of this? It just seems too troublesome."

"You're definately a Nara. No, there isn't." Minato said flatly.

"Well, it shouldn't be too hard considering our sensei is our age. I guess they'll let any dobe become a jounin if their dad's the hokage." Sasuke said spitefully.

_Naruto better wipe the floor with that kid. _Minato thought, shooting Sasuke a glare.

_Naruto's gona wipe the floor with him._ Sakura thought.

I'm gonna wipe the floor with him.

What a drag.

A/N: And that's the chapter. So what will Naruto do to Sasuke during the fight?! Review me some ideas and you get a shout out! Sorry for the cliff hanger, but I couldn't resist agrivating some of you. You know who you are.

-SurrealCereal-


	16. Chapter 16

Naruto:

Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 16

A/N So I didn't get a whole lot of suggestions. =/

But, I did decide something. What that something is though, is a secret. Sorry. Let's just say this: This FanFic is about to make a serious left turn. The updates will be further apart, but the chapters will be much longer. In fact, I may go back and edit a few of the earlier chapters and combine them.

Either way, this chapter starts this whole thing off so, let's get to it! Also, no more disclamers. I think I've said that enough.

Uhm. Also, I do not condone violence against women. (You'll see)

End A/N

Naruto wandered the streets for a long while after leaving his dad's office. He decided he needed to clear his head. He started to head towards the Nara's library like he normally would, but decided against it when he remembered that the clan's heir would be taking his test in the morning.

_Damn it, _He complained to Kurama _They have some of the best scrolls in the village too._

**Don't worry about it, Kit. You could always talk to Kakashi and borrow something from him.**

Or Obito cold let me into the Uchiha library!

Clan heir, Kit.

Damn it!

Go borrow one of Kakashi's scrolls. Make it easy.

He told me he won't let me borrow anything from his library until he thinks I'm able to understand it.

Kit, you're a Jounin now. Sack up and ask him.

Naruto started laughing. "Sack up? Really Kurama?" He then realized he had said that out loud and was getting a lot of stares from people who had been passing by. His face turned red from embarrasment before he lept from the street and onto the rooftops. Once he disappeared from sight, everyone who had witnessed the outburst heard a loud shout.

_Damn it! See what you made me do!_

Kurama was laughing. **Kit, that was all you! **He then continued laughing all the way to Kakashi's place.

_Can you stop laughing already it's not that funny! _Naruto shouted inside his head.

**It really is that funny, Kit! **Kurama replied before continuing his laughter.

Naruto grumbled under his breath as he knocked on the door to Kakashi's house.

"Just a second!" Shouted Kakashi from inside.

"Who is it?" Naruto heard a female voice whispering.

"I don't know. Just hide." Kakashi replied in a whisper.

"Oi! I can hear you!" Naruto shouted. He then heard the female voice shreak.

"Shit. It's Naruto." Kakshi said, no longer whispering. "What do you want? I'm kinda busy."

"I just wanted to borrow something to read. Lemme borrow a scroll or something and I'm outta here. Your lady-friend can stay." Naruto said impatiently.

Kakashi barely opened the door and threw a small sealed scroll out to Naruto. "If you need any help with that, ask someone else." Kakashi said.

Naruto looked up to see Kakashi smiling at him. Naruto also noticed a short woman covering herself in a blanket behind Kakashi. Before he could get a good look at her Kakashi shut the door.

"Later Naruto." Kakashi said through the closed door. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"And you try not to get her pregnant!" Naruto shouted back before running down the street, laughing maniacly. He knew he had probably just ruined Kakashi's day off. _But who was that woman?_

Back at Kakashi's

"That was way too close Kakashi."

"I know." Kakashi replied.

"I need to go."

"You're going to see him?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. I think I'm actually going to date him."

"I understand." Kakashi said.

"Well, I do want something more than just sex Kakashi." Rin replied. "And I don't see that happening with you. And he's been asking me out for years, knowing what we've been doing. I figure it's time I give him a chance, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

(Shock and Awe Bitches, Shock and Awe)

Naruto went to a near-by park to sit and read the scroll Kakashi had given him. He sat on a bench near a field where some kids were kicking a ball around. They asked if he wanted to play, but he politely declined.

He removed the seal placed on the scroll and opened it. The scroll wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. It was the tale of the Sage of Six Paths and his two sons. He loved the story though, so he re-read it. Somehow he always felt a connected to his younger son.

_I wonder what kind of talentless fool I'd be if you weren't helping me all the time._ Naruto thought with a laugh.

**You probably wouldn't be able to do anything with handseals if I hadn't taught you them. **Kurama replied, laughing with the blond.

_You're probably right. _Naruto agreed, still laughing. _Thanks Kurama._

**Anytime, Kit.**

Naruto looked up at the sky from his bench. The sky was begining to turn grey now. The sun had set not too long ago and the moon was becoming more visible.

"I should probably get home. Big day tomorrow." Naruto said as he stood up from the bench and began stretching. He started towards his house, but immediately stopped when he saw Rin walking down the street holding hands with Obito.

_Well, now I know it wasn't her at Kakashi's place earlier._ Naruto thought to himself.

He hid behind a corner and began trailing the two. He didn't know why he felt the need to be nosy, but he just went with it.

**Kit, I'm going to die of laughter when those genin send you to the hospital tomorrow.**

**You know as well as I do that won't happen.**

He followed the two all the way to Obito's apartment. They stood outside talking for a while, laughing and enjoying eachothers company. It was then Naruto realized that he wasn't alone. He spotted Kakashi sitting on a near-by rooftop, looking down on the two. Naruto looked down at thee ground and headed towards home. He looked over back at the silver haired nin and shook his head. _I hope I never have to see Kakashi-sensei cry like that ever again._

Kurama pretended not to hear the boy and feigned sleep. But inside his own mind, he couldn't agree more.

Naruto awoke the following morning and ate a small breakfast, the state he'd seen his teacher in still weighing on his mind.

"Naruto, you should really eat more than that." Kushina chimed as she watched her son's fork dance around the food on his plate.

"Now, now Kushina." Minato started, "He's probably just nervous. Being a jounin instructor is a pretty big deal."

Kushina glared daggers at her husband, but he just smiled a big toothy grin at her and she caved.

"All right, but he's eating extra at lunch." She said as she shook her head.

After breakfast, Naruto finished getting ready by double checking that he had all of his tools.

_Kunai, wire, explosive tags, food pills, shuriken, and yep that's everything. _He then looked on his bedside table and found a small orange book with a note attatched to it.

If you don't want your mom to know you still have this, you won't tell anyone what you saw last night.

-Kakashi

He then heard his door opening and without even thinking stuffed the book into his tool kit.

"Ready to go Naruto?" Kushina asked with a smile.

"Y-yeah." Naruto replied sheepishly. _Holy shit I got lucky._

She looked the boy over and as she did, sweat began rolling down his face. "Your father was right, you really are nervous about this. Just relax, you'll do fine." She stepped back and smiled at her son.

"T-thanks mom." Naruto replied with a small blush. _And thanks dad..._

Kurama was laughing uncontrolably. **She- she actually thinks you're nervous over three brats!** He managed to get out between spurts of laughter. **This is too funny!**

_Shut it Kurama!_

He then flashed over to the familiar training ground where his three students were waiting on him.

"You're late, dobe." Sasuke announced upon Naruto's arrival.

"I was helping an old lady cross the street." Naruto lied. He was hoping his tardiness would affect their hunger. It was in that momet he realized, he'd forgotten to tell them not to eat.

_Oh well, I'll still treat it the same._

"Tch, Whatever." Sasuke replied, turning away from the blonde. "So what's this final test anyways?"

"Yeah, I've never heard anything about this." Sakura chimed in.

Naruto shook his head. _Impatient bunch aren't they? _He pulled two bells from his pocket and tied them to his belt. "All you have to do is get one of these bells from me before lunch. There are only two of them though, so whoever doesn't get one fails."

"That's it?" Shikamru asked.

"That's it." Naruto answered. "And if you want to even stand a chance, I recomend coming at me to kill me."

"Your funeral I guess." Sasuke said sarcasticly. "I just hope your dad won't hold your death against me."

**I'm looking forward to this.**

I'm going to enjoy every second of it.

"When I give you the signal, come at me." Naruto said as he reached into his weapon pouch and pulled out the small book he'd stuffed in there earlier. He opened it to the page he had earmarked and began reading. "Begin."

No sooner than the words left his mouth did his students disapear into the near-by forest. Naruto just stood there in the middle of the clearing, continuing to read his book. A few moments later, Naruto looked around himself trying to figure out why his students weren't attacking him. _Guess I'll have to goad them a bit._

"I can stand here until lunch. You guys do realize that right?" Naruto shouted. Still nothing. _Guess I'll have to go after them._

Without any handseals three shadow clones darted out of a giant cloud of smoke. The original stayed put in the center of the field. It wasn't too long after that all three of his students came flying through the air, landing at his feet.

"Wow, you guys can't even beat one of my shadow clones. You should just go home now. Save yourselves the embarrasment." Naruto said condenscendingly. "No wonder you didn't want to fight me head on."

Sasuke's hands tightened into fists. "I'll show you embarrasing. You son of a bitch!" He shouted shouted as he scrabled to his feet. He lept at his sensei and went to grab his throat. Without looking away from his book, Naruto stepped out of Sasuke's reach and planted a foot firmly into Sasuke's crotch.

"Better." The blonde stated, "But nowhere near enough." He then punched the Uchiha in the face with his free hand, sending the boy flying through the air.

"I-is this real?" Sakura asked in shock.

"He was the best in our class, and Naruto-sensei is just tossing him around like that." Shikamaru chimed in, still sizing up his opponent. _And while reading a book..._

"Hi there," said a shadow clone that was standing behind Sakura. "Jounin remember?" And with that he let a sly smile cross his face as he landed a round house kick right on he jaw sending her stumbling in the same direction as Sasuke.

The clone then looked at Shikamaru and the boy just sighed before saying "Let me just save you the trouble." He then started walking to where he guessed Sasuke and Sakura had ended up.

Just before he disappeared into the woodline he heard the blond mumble something under his breath, just barely audible. "You guys aren't even close to gettng the point."

_So it all has a purpose then..._

It didn't take him long to find the two of them. Sakura was sitting on th ground rubbing her bruised cheek while Sasuke was brooding. He was pacing around the tree Sakura was sitting under as Shikamaru walked up.

"What the hell? Why didn't he send you flying through here?" Sasuke demanded, getting in the Nara's face.

"Maybe because he doesn't want to if he can help it, this is a test after all." Shikamaru answered. "I need a minute to think this through but I think I have a way to win."

"What's your plan Shikamaru?" Sakura asked.

"I just said I'd need a minute. Troublesome..." Shikamaru grumbled as he sat with his legs crossed and eyes closed. He was touching all the tips of his fingers together and was deep in thought.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the sight. _Bowl of ramen says they don't block it._

**You're on, Kit.**

Naruto threw a kunai strait at Shikamaru's forehead. He knew that it would bounce harmlessly off his hitai-ate. Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't. If they messed this up, they failed. End of story.

Just before the kunai struck, Sasuke launched a kunai of his own at Naruto's which deflected it of course. He then launched several more in the same direction Naruto's kunai had come from.

The Uchiha then hunched down like he was about to run a race, ready to leap at his opponent the second he saw him dodge. After a second of seeing nothing, he began to wonder where his sensei was.

**Sorry Sasuke.**

"One thousand years of pain!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke flew through the air, screaming in pain.

Sakura's jaw was on the floor. _What the hell was that?!_

An evil grin crossed Naruo's lips as Shikamaru opened his eyes. The Nara quickly evaded a kick that was meant for his ribs. Instead it only hit tree as splinters and bark exploded from the spot where Naruto's foot connected with it. He tried to leap away from his sensei, but instead Naruto grabbed him by the ankle and threw him towards Sakura.

The two collided as Naruto's alarm on his watch went off. "Well, that's it. Lunch time. You failed." Naruto said as he dusted himself off.

"Y-you're kidding." Sasuke said in shock. "There's no way we can beat you."

"Exactly." Shikamaru answered as he dusted himself off. "The test was meant to test our teamwork. Our ability to overcome together." He turned to Naruto, "And in that regard we failed miserably."

"I'm impressed you figured it out." Naruto said to Shikamaru. "Everything about the test is meant to pit you against one another."

"So then how are we supposed to pass?!" Sasuke shouted.

"Stop being a brat, Sasuke." Naruto shouted. "You failed get over it."

"I want another chance." Sasuke said, his anger steadily rising.

Naruto walked strait up to Sasuke and kicked him in the chest. Sasuke went flyig strait backwards, his back slamming into the side of one of the posts. Naruto the pulled out some rope and quickly tied the boy to it.

"You want your second chance?" Naruto whispered angrily in his ear. "You got it. But you don't get any lunch instead. You have to sit here and watch these two eat in front of you." He then pulled out two bento's from his backpack and gave them to Sakura and Shikamaru. "If either of you feed him so much as a bite of that, you all fail."

He then lept away from them to a tree where he could observe them without them knowing.

Shikamaru and Sakura looked guiltily down at the bentos their sensei had given them. They each sat on either side of Sasuke who pretended not to care about his current situation. They each shared a sad look before open their food and starting to eat.

_I guess they still fail..._

**Don't be so sure, Kit. **Kurama said, promting Naruto to look back at his three genin. Shikamaru and Sakura were alternating between taking a bite and looking out while the other gave a bite to Sasuke. Naruto inwardly smiled. _That's all I need to see._

He lept down from his tree and onto the post Sasuke was standing on. "What do you think you're doing?" He said trying to immitate the same tone of voice his mom used. "Didn't I make it clear that feeding him would cause you to fail?"

Sakura and Shikamaru were visibly scared. _Where the hell did he even see us from?!_

"W-we were feeding him N-Naruto-sensei." Sakura stammered.

"B-because if we didn't w-we wouldn't stand a ch-chance." Shikamaru added.

"Well then I only have one thing to say to you." Naruto said angrily.

The three genin braced themselves for what was about to happen. They knew they had broken their sensei's rules and knew they were about to be failed for breaking them.

"Congrats. You pass." Naruto said indiferently.

The three genin's jaws all dropped.

"Wait, What?!" Sakura shouted.

"What was the point of the test?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"Teamwork." All three answered.

"Exactly." Naruto said. "There's gonna be time when you have to break the rules for the mission to succeed and for everyone to make it home alive. Don't let them restain you from doing the right thing and helping your friends."

The three all shared a glance with eachother. They knew that for them to succeed as a team, they'd have to improve together.

"So with that said, be back here tomorrow morning." Naruto said as he walked off. "And try not to look as stupid as you did today.

"What time?" Shikamaru asked.

"Same as today. Don't be late." Naruto shouted as he waved.

The three sat together for a while that afternoon, just talking and getting to know eachother. This was only the begining of their training under Naruto and they already felt like they had learned something valuable.

"He sure is great, huh?" Sakura said aloud.

"You sure are infatuated with him, aren't you Sakura?" Shikamaru noted.

"That's all she's talked about." Sasuke said.

Sakura's face turned red. "Well, yeah."

"Then ask him out." Sasuke said flatly. _So I can ask out Ayame._

Sakura's eyes lit up. "Do you really think I have a chance?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Not even a little."

"But you need to handle this so it doesn't affect our team dynamics later on." Shikamaru said as he layed down to stare at the clouds.

"Fine," Sakura said firmly. "I'll ask him tomorrow."

Perfect.

A/N And end. Not too long, but not too short either.

Poll question: You've got until August 18th, 2015.

What should Naruto's answer be to Sakura? There will be something that happens next chapter. It can sway him either way, so I'll leave it to you. I've hinted at it. But meh.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. Obito/Rin is now official, but what about Kakashi? Give me coupling ideas for him as well. There's no deadline to that.

Remember to Favorite/Follow/Review!

-SurrealCereal-

P.s. Right now I'm eating a bowl of Golden Grahams


	17. Chapter 17

Naruto: The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 17

**A/N:** It's finally fucking here. A new fucking chapter. Holy shit. I'm so sorry about this long time of being away. You guys fucking rock if you're still sticking with me! The note I put up will be pulled down right before I post this. So real quick, I've been reading some mangas that gave me a few really good ideas. It's about to become a guessing game for them but** the chapter after this will be from Ayame's perspective. It's gonna be good. Expect it to be up in just a few days.** Your brains might explode a bit**. So please, torches and pitchforks down and just wait for that.**

**SHIT IS ABOUT TO GET REAL.**

**Guest,** you know who you are. I get where you're coming from.** I really do.** Trust me, I've thought it myself plenty of times. But,You're half wrong. So please, wait until next chapter with Ayame. If you still have the same complaint then, I'm sorry. **It all has a purpose and I hope you see that.**

_Also, please consider getting an account. I would have rather replied to you that way._

Again, You guys fucking rock.

End A/N

Naruto was laying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was trying to think of ways to get Ayame back. For some reason though, his mind kept drifting back to Kakashi crying on the roof.

_If I don't do anything, will I end up like that?_ Naruto asked himself.

**Kit, we don't know all the details of that. For all we know Kakashi could have wanted it that way.**

The image of tears streaming down his sensei's face played in his mind again. Naruto shook his head._ I don't think that's right. _

Kurama sighed. **Kit, just do what you think is best. I'll support you no matter what you decide.**

Naruto smiled. _Thanks Kurama. I can always count on you._

It still didn't change the fact that he had no idea what he should do. He played the last time he'd seen Ayame in his head.

"Damn it! What was she gonna say?!" Naruto shouted as he slammed his fist into his bed.

"What was who gonna say sensei?"

Naruto shot out of his bed to see Sakura sitting on a tree branch outside his window. The moon was full so he could see her clearly.

Naruto's face turned red as he looked down at the ground. "No one." He said before realizing she'd probaby been watching him for a while now. "Anyways, what are you doing here?" He shouted.

"I just came by to talk to you." Sakura replied as a blush became visible on her cheeks.

Naruto sighed in exasperation as he put his hands on his hips. "Look if it's about tomorrow's training-"

"It's not about that!" Sakura shouted, cutting the boy off. "It's about something else."

Naruto sighed agian. "Well what is it? We both need to get some rest for tomorrow."

Sakura's face became blood red. She clenched her fists tight, trying to make the words come out of her mouth.

**JUST SAY IT! SHANARO!**

The pink haired girl gulped hard before shouting "I love you Naruto-sensei!"

Naruto stood in place trying to figure out what he had just heard. I mean sure he knew the girl liked him, but loved him? He didn't expect her to say that, or show up at his window at this time of night, or for her to come out and say anything at all.

_Kurama! Help!_

**With what, Kit?**

_With... with THIS!_

**How the hell am I supposed to help you with this?!**

_I don't know! Just help!_

Kurama sat in silence thinking for a while.

_**I could do this, but it would mean lying to him... But it would help him in the long run...**_He sighed _**Please forgive me, Kit.**_

_Well?! What do I do?!_

**You can use this girl to make Ayame jealous.**

_Wait... WHAT?!_

**You heard me. Date this girl. Ayame become jealous. Falls for you. You leave this girl for her.**

_I can't do that!_

**Well then I guess you don't want to get her back from that Uchiha brat do you?!**

Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tight. He felt a tight pull in his chest.

_**I'm really sorry, Kit.**_

Naruto exhaled slowly, relaxing himself as he did. He looked Sakura dead in the eye and gave her the warmest smile he could manage. "I l-love you too, Sakura-chan."

Sakura almost fell from the tree.

**WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?!**

"D-Do you really mean that, Naruto-sensei?" Sakura asked, as she secretly pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

_I hate myself so much right now..._ "I really do, Sakura-chan. But we have to remember we're in a squad so that comes first."

Sakura pinched herself again for good messure before nodding her head in agreement. "Okay, so what do we do?"

Naruto stood, quetly thinking for a moment before replying. "During training or missions, we're sensei and student. Only while we're in the village are we a couple."

Sakura thought about it for a second. It made sense, this way their relationship wouldn't comprimise the mission. "Alright." Sakura looked away for a moment before asking another question. "So what do I call you?"

Naruto thought for a second on this as well. "During training or missions 'Naruto-sensei' but when we're in the village just 'Naruto'.

Sakura smiled warmly at the boy and nodded her head in agreement as the door to Naruto's room shot open.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING AWAKE NARUTO?!" Kushina shouted.

Naruto froze in panic, like a deer in the headlights. Luckily for him, Sakura spoke up. She jumped into the boys room, which caught Kushina completely off guard.

"I'm sorry. I woke Naruto up to talk to him." Sakura said, bowing her head.

"And who are you?" Kushina asked impatiently.

"I'm his girlfriend." Sakura said, looking back up at the red-head with a smile.

Kushina looked at her son, then back at the girl, back at her son, then back at the girl, back at her son and then back at the girl again.

She sighed. He's definately spent too much time around Jiraiya. "It's too late for you to be out. Sleep in the guest room and go home in the morning." Kushina said before walking out of the room. "Naruto, show her where." And with that she closed the door and went back to bed.

Naruto and Sakura just stood there in total silence for a moment. Neither of them aware that they were having the same thought._ WHAT?!_

Naruto regained his bearings first. "S-so it's t-this w-way." Naruto said, motioning for Sakura to follow him. She nodded in reply.

They made their way down towards the end of the hallway. As they passed Naruto's parent's room the heard whispers coming from inside. They ignored them and proceeded towards the guest room. Naruto helped her get the futon out and was about to head back to his room when the door swung open.

He had expected it to be his mother, but instead it was his father. Minato was calm, but you could tell he was angry. He looked at Sakura and then to Naruto. "We need to talk. Kitchen. Now." He looked at Sakura. "Stay for the night, but this is the last time." His rage was clear in his voice, even if he was trying to stay calm.

Naruto gulped and nodded in reply.

**I havn't seen him like this in a while. Scary.**

_No kidding..._

_[END]_

**A/N: ****_Next chapter will be Ayame's point of view!_** I'm excited to write it, hope you're excited to read it! As always, _**FAVORITE REVIEW AND FOLLOW!**_

I'm happy to be back, so let's get back to this!

_**-SurrealCereal-**_


	18. Chapter 18

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 18

A/N: What's up guys? Hopefully this chapter convinces you to spare me. I'm really excited for this chapter. I really am. With this we start a new arc in the FanFiction and I'm really excited about that. So now, on to business.

I'm not exactly thrilled with the lack of reviews I got for the last Chapter as of right now. But I am glad that it did get quite a few reads. Also I'm working on my spelling and grammar a bit as well but I still make mistakes. Please, let me know of any major ones you see and sometime in the next week or so I'll be going bck and fixing all of the early chapters. (Depending on what days I have off from work)

But for now this is the promised chapter. And I'm sorry. I hope you see what I'm doing with this, but your rage will still be understandable. But, here we go with Chapter 18. Enjoy.

End A/N

Ayame was sitting at a desk in her room. A single lamp was lit, illuminating what she held in her hands. She was staring at it as feelings of nastalgia washed over her. It was a photo her father had taken shortly after she and Naruto had started dating. The two of them were sitting side-by -side anjoying her father's noodles. Naruto had the biggest, toothiest grin on his face while she had a deep blush on hers.

_Why was I blushing?_ The girl asked herself trying to remember clearly. _Oh, right. Dad had said somethng about marriage._

She felt something warm glide down her cheek. She didn't even try to wipe it away. She didn't want to admit to herself that she was crying. She put the picture back in her drawer and shut it before walking over to the window. The sun had set not long ago and the stars were barely visible in the night sky.

It was then she remembered something else._ I never finished telling him._ Naruto had asked her why she wasn't dating Sasuke and she never answered him.

_What if he ends up thinking it's just because I hate Sasuke and not because I love him?!_

She began to panic. Her breathing became rapid and she felt like her chest was about to explode.

"I have to tell him." She stated to herself. "I have to tell him now."

She quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs. She passed her dad as she bolted out the door.

"Be careful!" He shouted behind her. He already knew where she was heading, he had seen the tears on her face as she ran by him. _It's about time..._ He thought with a smile.

She ran through the dimly lit streets. It was begining to get late and the moon was fully visible as it lit up the village. It was a full moon tonght and she smiled as she looked up at it.

"I can do this." She said to herself. "I can do this."

She raced to the blonde boys house, cheering herself on all the while. "I'm going to tell him how I feel and we'll get back together and it'll be like we never broke up!" She was now smiling as she neared the boy's house. She'd regretted the two of them breaking up like they did and always wanted to make it right, but whenever she'd see Naruto she would always hideout of panic. She didn't want to find out that he'd come to hate her. But how could he? She realized now that Naruto still wanted to be with her too.

_I don't want to wake his parents up, I should probably just go knock on his window._

She'd climbed the tree several times before. She'd always use it to go see him whenever he was in trouble.

She walked around the house and looked up at the tree. _Here I come Naruto!_ She said inwardly.

It was then she noticed the pink haired girl sitting on her banch. The girl clearly looked nervous, she was biting her lip and had her fists clenched tight.

"I love you Naruto-sensei!" The girl shouted.

Ayame ducked back around the corner. _A confession?! Like Naruto would actually date someone like-_ Her thought was interupted as she heard Naruto's reply.

"I l-love you too, Sakura-chan." she heard the blonde say.

Ayame felt her heart break. She clenched her hands to her chest, trying to hold herself together as she ran from the scene, tears running down her face. She stopped at a bench and just let herself fall apart. She layed on the bench, trying to muffle her cries. Her body wracked with sobs as she said the blonde boy's name over and over again. Each time she did, his smiling face would come to mind and just make the pain that much worse. She was uterly and completely broken. She knew that someone would see her, but she didn't care. She didn't have the strength to move right now.

She didn't know how long she'd been crying on that bench when she felt some one sit down beside her. They placed their hand on her head and said "I'm sorry you had to see that." She felt comfort from the voice, although she couldn't quite place who it was. She looked up to see who it was who had treid to comfort her but they were already gone.

She sat up and looked around to see who it was that had made her feel even a little better, to thank them but she couldn't find them.

Instead she saw a familiar dark haired boy running over to her, his blue shirt flapping behind him.

"AYAME!" Sasuke shouted, "What happened?" He asked, clearly pained to see the girl crying like this.

"It's nothing." She said, wiping the tears from her eyes and trying her best to fake a smile for her friend.

"Bullshit." Sasuke replied. He knew her well enough to know that this wasn't nothing.

"It's really nothing." Ayame said, trying to sound a bit more convincing.

"It's really bullshit. What happened? Why are you crying?" Sasuke said firmly, but clearly concerned.

Ayame felt the tears begin running down her face again and her body began to wretch wit sobs. "H-h-he..." She wanted to make the words come but couldn't. "He loves someone else!" She shouted as she wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck. There was no denying it anymore. Naruto loved someone else. Not her. She cried harder than she was before. Like somehow admitting it made it even more real.

Sasuke did his best to comfort the girl. He had no idea er feelings for Naruto were this strong. If he had he would have never told Sakura to go for it. He wanted to make this right. He _had_ to make this right.

"Ayame..." He said as he wrapped his arms around her. "I want to help you. So please hear me out."

Ayame nodded in reply.

"Date me."

Ayame was shocked. "W-what?!" She jumped back and held herself at arms length to Sasuke.

"Date me. It'll make that idiot jealous and he'll probably realize how he feels about you." Sasuke said in a serious tone.

"That won't work!" Ayame shouted, "He loves her! I heard it myself! He'll never fall for something like this!"

"Ayame." Sasuke said sternly looking the brunette dead in the eyes. "Trust me. It'll work."

Ayame thought it over for a second before nodding in reply.

_Okay Sasuke. I'll trust you._

**[End]**

_**Torches and Pitchforks down! You already saw Naruto has felings for Ayame and Ayame has feelings for Naruto. While Sakura loves Naruto, he doesn't return those feelings. It's the same for Ayame and Sasuke.**_

**Guest do you remember what I said about half right? Do you see it now?**

I hope you guys enjoyed this and I hope you like where the story is headed.

Will Naruto and Ayame end up together? Or will they return the fellings of Sasuke and Sakura?

Keep reading to find out! And as always! _**Favorite Review and Follow!**_

Reviewers of the last two chapters get a shout out!

_**-SurrealCereal-**_


	19. Chapter 19

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 19

A/N: I know this may piss some of you off, but I'm not doing the Great Naruto Bridge Arc. To me it was only meant to introduce Naruto's ability to use the Fox's Chakra and we already know he can do that. Also, there are way too many contradictions in the Arc that are just stupid and a lot of "skills" that are completely ignored/useless later on anyways. So i will be skipping it.

Instead please enjoy this.

I found it online. Thought it was cool so I thought I'd share it.

Also shoutouts:

**Maail99 NarutoKushina Guestx3**

Thanks for the reviews! Even if most of them were negative... (glares at the guests)

Not gonna lie, kinda pissed.

Seriously, **GET A FUCKING ACCOUNT!** Especially before you tell me I _"ruined"_ my story.

And Again, I'll be fixing the fucking drama drama. But for now I like it. It's fun. It's not going to outshine the story though. _**(well, it might a bit in this chapter but not in any of the upcoming ones)**_ Just trust me ok? You've stuck with me this far, just see it through til the end. Might have some unexpected results, yeah?

_**Be glad I do my A/N's after I write the chapters, otherwise I would've flat out told you to fuck right off and If you didn't like it then tough. And that no one's forcing you to read my "ruined" "unneccessarily dramatic" story.**_

_**But I'm not saying that, because I'm a nice person.**_

Anyways, I've probably bored you enough so let's just jump strait into Chapter 18 before I chew anyone else's head off.

To Maail99 and NarutoKushina. I've put both up you up here for just about every shoutout I've done and I'm glad you guys are still sticking with me. As a bonus I'll be sending you both a link in a private message of the first chapter of my next story that I uploaded on a secondary account.

END A/N

Naruto waled through the village alone, something he'd rarely had the chance to do in the past few months. Normally, Sakura would have wrapped herself around his arm and drug him all over the place so he was enjoying the quiet for today. His mind began wandering back to another one of his students and he felt his blood begin to boil.

_"Sasuke..."_ Naruto hissed through gritted teeth. He could barely stand to teach the bastard anymore. He still did it, but his dad was getting tired of hearing all the complaints.

_"You're going to reap what you've sewn."_ Minato had told him that in the kitchen the night Sakura had stayed over. _"And you'll probably regret it for the rest of your life."_

Naruto didn't quite understand what his dad meant until the next day when he saw Ayame holding hands with the son-of-a-bitch.

Naruto turned and punched a tree. The bark exploded from the tree, embedding itself in any near-by surfaces, including Naruto.

He pulled the shards of wood out of himself without so much as a grimace and tossed them to the ground. He'd been losing control of his temper too often recently. The worst of it was in a sparring match with Sasuke.

Naruto had lost his cool and slammed Sasuke into the ground hard enough to hospitalize him for a few days. Luckily for him, the raven-haired boy had covered for him lied to the Hokage saying that he had "fallen down some stairs."

Minato didn't buy it even for a second. He knew exactly what had happened, but he let it slide anyways. If the boy was willing to lie for a teacher he obviously hated, he had to have a good reason.

"This whole thing is just pissing me off." Naruto said to himself, still trying to relax.

He walked for a bit more before sitting on a bench to try and think a bit more clearly.

I'll admit, Sakura's not as bad as I thought she was at first but still... Ayame's face came into his mind, I still feel like shit for using her like to top it off it didn't even work. He looked up at the clouds, like Shikamaru often did. He the heard someone sit down beside him.

"This whole thing's become so troublesome." Shikamaru said as he sat down.

Naruto just looked at his student with a puzzled look on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"This whole thing you've got going on. It's one big pain in the ass." the Nara said as he stared up at the clouds.

Naruto was shocked. He knows?!

"And before you ask, yes I know." Shikamaru said before turning to look at his sensei. "And I know more than you do."

Shikamaru's gaze was intense. He was staring daggers at Naruto.

"It's not all on you though." He said before looking back up at the clouds. "But I won't help you. Any of you. You guys brought this mess on yourselves and I'm just gonna stay out of it."

"What do you mean you guys?" Naruto asked, confused by the Nara's explanation.

"I just told you I'm staying out of it." Shikamaru replied, once again glaring at Naruto.

Naruto sighed. "Fine I get it." He replied as he stood up. "Just don't be late for our training tomorrow. I've got some big news for you guys."

Naruto started to walk away but turned when he heard the Nara say one last thing.

"Just how long are you planning on lying to Sakura?" He asked, once again glaring.

Naruto bit his lip and flashed away before he lost his temper.

Shikamaru sighed and looked back up at the clouds._ How troublesome..._

Naruto didn't go very far, just far enough to where he wouldn't see Shikamaru.

God damn it. Naruto thought as he gritted his teeth and cleched his fists.

He exhaled and felt himself relax before looking up at the sky again.

He's got a point though.

As always, Kurama remained silent. He'd had very little to say since he'd started "dating" Sakura. Naruto was about to try talking to the Kyuubi when he felt someone latch onto his arm.

"I didn't expect to see you here Naruto!" Sakura said greeting the boy with a smile.

"O-oh hey Sakura." Naruto managed to stammer out.

She puffed out her cheeks. "Seriously Naruto," She began, "We've been dating for two months now. Wehn are you going to stop being so nervous around me?"

"S-sorry." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "Anyways, what're you doing out here?"

Sakura gave the boy a confused look before replying. "What are you talking about? You're right in front of my house."

Naruto looked behind him to see that he was in-fact standing right in front of the pink haired girl's house.

"So what are you doing here Naruto? Didn't you have a meeting with the Hokage after training today.

And that was a whole new problem entirely. He'd decided to leave it up to his students and give them the day off tomorrow to decide for themselves.

"I'll talk to all of you about it tomorrow." Naruto replied.

"Ok." Sakura said. "But then why are you here?"

Naruto thought about it for a second. Why was he here? He'd wanted to get away from Shikamaru but he had thousands of seals all over the village he could choose from and yet he chose the one at Sakura's house. Why?

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat?" he lied.

"Ok sure." Sakura said, smiling at the boy. "Just let me grab something real fast."

Sakura then ran inside and reappeared a few minutes later. "Ok, let's go!" she said, grabbing onto the boy's arm again.

The next day, Naruto stood in front of his assembled team. Sasuke was glaring at him, Shikamaru was cloud gazing, and Sakura was staring at him with hearts in her eyes.

Same as usual. The blonde thought with a sigh.

"So I actually ave some big news to talk to you guys about today." Naruto began. "The chuunin exams are coming up in a few months and you guys meet the minimum requirements to participate."

Sasuke's eyes sparkled a bit at that while Shikamaru visibly flinched.

"It'll be tough and I'm going to have to train you harder if you agree to take part but it's up to you guys whether you want to or not."

Sakura looked down at her feet before speaking. "What do you think sensei?"

Naruto sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you. I faced tougher opponents when I took the exams but you guys stand a fighting chance if we start training as soon as possible."

"What kind of training are we talking about here?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto smirked. "Let me put it bluntly. (Dramatic Pause) "I won't be holding back on you anymore."

"Troublesome."

"Also I'll be training each of you one on one from now on as well. As will your families and a few others I've asked for help."

"Others?" Sakura asked.

"I'll tell you about that after you decide. So do you want in or not?" Naruto asked impatiently.

The three looked at eachother briefly before Shikamaru spoke.

"Looks like I'm the minority so I guess we're doing it." He said with a sigh.

"Alright well then meet your new teachers." Naruto said as Rin and another woman walked out from behind a near-by tree.

"I thought you said they wouldn't do it, brat." the woman said.

"I lied. Otherwise you would've said no."

The woman vanished and reappeared behind Naruto. "Then I guess I'll take my payment now." She pulled out a kunai and cut th boys cheek. She then licked the blood as it ran down his face. "I just hope they can keep up."

"They'll be fine Anko-san." Naruto said without even a flinch at the new cut.

She walked over to where Shikamaru was sitting. "So you're the one I'll be teaching. Call me Anko-sensei. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru replied. Why do I get the troublesome one?

Meanwhile, Rin had made her way to over to Sakura. "And I'll be teaching you medical ninjutsu Sakura-chan."

"Thank you, Rin-sensei." Sakura said.

Sasuke looked around for someone else to appear. "So who's gonna be training me."

Naruto just looked at him like he'd asked the stupidest question ever. "Who's the only other person here?"

"YOU?!" Sasuke shouted.

"Me." Naruto replied. "You've got potential. I'll give you that. But right now you're wasting it."

Sasuke smirked. "Wasting it, huh?" No sooner than the last word left his mouth did a kunai fly from the raven haired boy's hand. Naruto and the kunai vanished from sight briefly before reappearing at Sasuke's neck.

_**"Wasting it."**_ Naruto repeated, clearly pissed off. "So from now until the exams, I'm going to beat you into the ground until you're able to stand and fight me." And hopefully we'll awaken some of that potential of yours.

Sasuke smirked before replying. "Then we better get started."

[End]

A/N I really don't know where to begin on this one, so I'm not really gonna say anything here. Once this arc is over I'll be marking this story as complete and begin on a sequel, as well as another story.

The other story will be a bit closer to cannon but will still have a major key difference. Also expect the finale to be ridiculously long. But it will leave very few questions answered and the coupling will work itself out.

_**Again, remember to Review/Favorite/Follow!**_

_**-SurrealCereal-**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Naruto:**_

_**The Pride of the Leaf**_

_**Chapter 20**_

**A/N:** What's up guys? We're nearing in on the end of the story but coming close to the sequel. Speaking of which... **I need names.** Might just go with Part 2 or something, but **if you've got an idea let me know!**

But there will only be **three more chapters** to this story. _**THIS CHAPTER INCLUDED.**_ Maybe four as a conclusion but it will be short if I do.

Anyways, I'm doing a time skip with flashbacks. Leave the results of their training a surprise, you know?

That's pretty much it, so let's do this!

**End A/N**

The chuunin exams were being held in Konohagakure this year. Over the past few weeks, genin from other villages had been arriving in preparation for the exams.

Naruto had ran into Gaara and his siblings, Kankuro and Temari. They had been out exploring the shopping district of the village and had even met Ino and a few of the others from Team 7's class. Gaara had wanted to meet Naruto's team but he politely declined.

"They're busy training right now so I don't think it's a good idea." Naruto had told the red-haired boy.

Naruto and Sakura had very little time together between training and preparation for the exams, and honestly Naruto had gotten a little used to the girl clinging to him. _If only it were Ayame. _

A few days before the exams his dad called him into his office. Naruto wasn't exactly sure what it was about but agreed nonetheless. His dad informed him that Orochimaru may attack the village during the exams and that they needed him to be one of his ANBU bodyguards during the public final round. Naruto agreed and left.

He and his father weren't talking like they normally would lately. His father was still upset about his reasons for dating Sakura. Minato had told him about the way he had found the girl on a bench crying after she had heard his answer to Sakura and that the boy would probably never have another chance with her now that Sasuke was dating her.

Naruto fought back tears as he remembered all of this. He then realized that he and his squad were at their destination.

_Hopefully he'll manage to figure all of this out while we're taking these exams._ Shikamaru though as he noted his sensei's demeanor.

_Just go talk to her. Shit. Don't you get it yet?! Even after our talk?!_ Sasuke thought angrily.

He flashed back to himself laying on the ground with Naruto standing over him, scolding him.

"How can you hope to protect Ayame if you can't even hold your own against me?!" Naruto shouted at him angrily.

"I'm not the one who should be protecting her!" Sasuke shouted back as he strugled to his feet. His whole body was sore. They'd been going through this same pattern for weeks now and he was sick of Naruto's superior attitude. "If you were even half as smart as you pretend to be, you'd realize that!"

Naruto just smirked in reply as he charged at the boy again, but something was different. He seemed... slower.

Sasuke easily dodged a punch aimed at his face and countered with a kick to Naruto's ribs. Naruto skidded back a few feet before coming to a halt.

"So it finally happened." Naruto said with a smile.

"What happened?" Sasuke asled angrily. "Me telling you the truth about Ayame and you deciding to let me land a blow?!" He had to have let me hit him. Normally I can't even see him running at me.

"No." Obito said as he leaped out from a near-by tree and into the clearing. "You awoke the Sharingan." Obito then pulled out a mirror and held it to Sasuke's face, showing that he had indeed done it. "Which means it's my turn to train you now."

Sasuke smirked through the pain in his body. "Bring it on."

Obito turned to Naruto and said one last thing before dismissing the boy though. He placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder and looked him square in the eye.

"Maybe you should take what he said to heart. If you don't like the way he's doing things, do it yourself."

Naruto shrugged Obito's hand off and flashed away, clearly pissed off.

Obito shook his head before turning to face Sasuke. "I hope you're ready."

Sasuke remembered that he was standing outside the academy, waiting to take the chuunin exams and shook the memory off. What do I care about that idiot? Ayame just needs to get over him already. He thought angrily. But until she does, I'll help however I can.

"Hey, Naruto-sensei." Sasuke said, mildly hating himself.

"What? Wanting some last minute advice?" Naruto asked.

"Nah. That won't do us any good now." Sasuke replied. "I think you should stop by Ichiraku. Ayame's old man has been asking about you lately. I think he's worried about you."

Naruto just nodded in reply before giving them last minute advice anyways.

"You guys have trained hard for this, and you've all come a long way but while you're in there I can't help you. It's all up to you." He started smiling. "So I'll be waiting for you, so you better not fail. Go in there and give them hell!"

"Right!" his team replied in unison.

"They sure have come a long way, eh Naruto?" Gai said as he approached, his team close behind.

"Oh hey, Gai." Naruto said greeting the spandex clad man. "You're team's here too?"

"Yeah," Gai said scratching the back of his head, "Negi's uncle wouldn't listen when I said they weren't quite ready."

"Same with Sasuke's dad." Naruto replied with a sigh.

"Wait, that's why you asked us?!" Sasuke shouted. He hadn't heard about this.

"Yeah," Naruto said, kicking a rock at his feet, "We compromised saying that I'd ask you guys instead. Either way, you're here now and you need to focus."

Sasuke nodded in agreement.

Team 7 took one final look up at the sign above the Academy door before walking in. They entered the designated classroom and took the seats with their name on them. They were scattered throughout the room. Most of the other seats were filled as well. They noticed one other team enter the room before a man with scars on face walked to the front of the room followed by several other leaf ninjas.

"Alright, shut up." Ibiki said, standing at the front of the room. "Flip the piece of paper with your name on the back of it over and you'll find a test."

Everyone flipped their papers over.

"It's only ten questions, but you have an hour to finish. The chuunin you see around me are to help me spot any cheaters. If you're caught, not only do you fail but so does your team." A few people were spotted shooting glares around the room.

"Begin." Ibiki shouted and with that students began picking up their pencils and writing.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and copied th hand motions of one student who began writing immediately after the test began. Sakura and Shikamaru didn't need to cheat, they were both smart enough to pass this test in their sleep. They did notice several other students cheating though, as did the instructors as several teams were forced to leave.

About half of the room was emptied when only the timer ran out an Ibiki stood in front of the classroom again.

"Alright listen up." Ibiki said, "There's actually an eleventh question for this test and if you get it wrong you'll never be allowed to take the chuunin exams again."

Several students began protesting about how it wasn't fair and that it wasn't a part of the exams last year.

"SHUT UP!" Ibiki shouted over the protesters, "If you don't want to risk it you can just leave now and fail the test and take it again next time."

A few people looked around at their teammates.

"THIS IS THE ONLY CHANCE YOU WILL GET!" Ibiki shouted and several genin raised their hands and were escorted out of the room, as were their teammates.

The number of people continued to drop as more genin were taken out of the room. Over 200 genin had originally been in the room, but now there were just over 50.

"LAST CHANCE!" Ibiki shouted. When he was satisfied that no one else was going to raise their hands he let out a sigh. "There's more of you than I had hoped for but congratulations, you all pass."

Most of the genin could find their jaws on the floor at this news.

Ibiki raised his hands to silence the students. "Now could the rest of my proctors please come up here."

Several of the test takers waled to the front of the room, but one in particular caught team 7's eye. He was wearing a bandanna and a face mask and was considerably shorter than the others. Once at the front of the room he removed the bandanna and face mask to reveal a head of blonde hair.

_That was the guy I copied off of!_ Sasuke thought, in shock.

Naruto flashed a knowing smile at the raven ahired boy. _AND HE KNEW!?_ Sasuke shouted inwardly.

"So now i will turn it over to the proctor of the second portion of the exam."Ibiki said, "Anko, they're all-"

Suddenly a woman came crashing through the window holding a banner that said 'Congrats'.

"Good job, Brats!" She said, waving the banner around "Now if all will follow me we'll be heading to the location of the second test!"

She led the students to a fence around a large forest. The forest gave off an ominous vibe that scared many of the genin.

"Welcome to Training Ground Forty Four," Anko said with the students gathered around her, "Or as some of us call it The Forest of Death. In here you will face some of your greatest fears. While in here you will be making your way to a tower located at the very center of the forest. You will be carrying one of these." She pulled out two scrolls. One was blue and one was brown. The blue one had the kanji for heaven while the brown one had the kanji for earth. "Your team will be given one before entering the forest, but you'll need one of each to enter the tower. And don't even think about trying to fake it. The scrolls have a seal on them and you won't be able to enter if the scroll isn't sealed properly. Aslo, if you try to open it prematurely..." She paused for dramatic affect while letting a sinister smile come across her features, "You'll die."

Several of the genin gulped.

"If at any point you wish to quit, simply fire a flare into the sky and a proctor will pull you out." Naruto said as he stepped up behind her. "But be warned, you can't trust anyone outside of your squad. Don't forget that." He made eye contact with Shikamaru as he said that and the Nara simply nodded in reply.

"Now each of you, follow a proctor to a gate where you will enter and wait for further instruction."

Team 7 followed Naruto silently to their gate. Naruto noticed that Sakura seemed a bit nervous as they got closer to where the team would be entering. _Who can blame her?_ The Forest of Death is no joke.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the gate they would be entering.

"Alright guys, this is it." Naruto said upon their arrival, "Once you're in there you're on your own. You've got five days to get there, but can't arrive at the tower until the day after tomorrow." Naruto let out a sigh. "I know you guys are nervous, but I know you're going to be alright. Just remember your training and know that I'm cheering for all of you."

Sakura was nervously fiddling with her fingers. Naruto noticed she was scared. He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"You're gonna do fine." Naruto said, as he lifted the girls chin to look him in the eye. "I believe in you, alright?"

Sakura nodded as a loud bang was heard.

"That' the signal to start." Naruto said. "Here's your scroll and rememb-"

He was cut off as Sakura jumped up and kissed him on the lips. She took the scroll out of his hands and ran through the gate. Sasuke and Shikamaru were both in shock but followed her.

"Was that really necessary?" Shikamaru called out.

"It was." Sakura replied with a smile. Because if he does talk to Ayame, I'll never be able to do that again.

"Alright, let's focus." Sasuke said, taking charge. "Which scroll do we have?"

"Heaven." Sakura answered.

"Give it here. I'll seal it away." Sasuke said. Sakura handed him the scroll without question.

"I'll make us a decoy scroll. Maybe we can use it to draw out someone with an earth scroll." Shikamaru chimed in.

"Sakura, cover us. This might take some time." Sasuke said, as he began drawing a seal on his right shoulder.

She nodded and took up a defensive position.

They were treating this like it was a test. They had no way of knowing that this was about to be far more than just a test, this was about to become a battlefield and they were going to be at the very heart of it. And that becoming chuunin would be the least of their worries.

_**END**_

**A/N** So there it is. Hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be out in just a few days. It will include the preleminaries and finals. So_** any match ups you want to see, let me know!**__**First come, first serve on picks!**_ I will do as many of them as I can!

As always! **REVIEW/FAVORITE/FOLLOW!**

_**-SurrealCereal-**_


	21. Chapter 21

**Naruto:**

**The Pride of the Leaf**

**Chapter 21**

**A/N:** Let me explain something to you guys. This is **FanFiction**. _Not Canon_. **FanFiction**. I'm seriously about to not allow guest reviews anymore. I don't want to do that, considering the reviews I posted before I decided to get an account and the reviews of several guests I've received as well that have been very **constructive**. Let me say that again. _**CONSTRUCTIVE. **_

Before you come at me pissed off because my couplings aren't canon or aren't your favorite couple or both, realize one thing. It's a fucking **FANFICTION**. Which means? **MY STORY, MY COUPLES, MY IDEAS, MY 'UNNECISSARY' DRAMA, MY PLOT, ALL OF IT**. The next _idiotic_ and completely_ assanine_ review I get from a guest, I'm done.** Don't like my story? Write your fucking own**. Use some of that appearant rage you have to write something you enjoy. By all fucking means, then deal with the** stupid jackasses such as yourself** criticizing something because it's not _exactly_ what they want, _which I personally couldn't give less of a shit about_.

By all means, feel free to criticize for** valid things** or tell me something you'd** like** to see. But do not,_ I repeat_,** DO NOT** tell me to** kill myself** because you don't like my couplings. Here's an idea for you though, instead of flaming online about couples from an Anime/Manga you go out and meet someone. _**Instead of trying to distract yourself from your sad empty life that consists of you trying to troll online all day while having your mom make you Hot Pockets and wipe your ass for you, you go out meet someone and try to remember what life is like outside of your parent's basement.**_

And before you even think of flipping that on me, I'm 24. I own my own house, I have a car, I have a job, I have a girlfriend, she's 4 months pregnant with my son, I did 5 deployments in the US Navy aboard a submarine and I've done far more with my life than you've probably even considered doing and I'm getting ready to do a lot more.

**You're an idiot who uses an infinite fucking resource of knowledge and research to tell someone to kill themselves rather than do something productive or creative with it.****_ FUCKING REALLY?!_** Or is your life so sad and empty that you think if they're not together then you can never be happy? That singular closed-mindedness is going to wreck your fucking life, well the emtpy shell of a thing you call a life anyways.

**Fucking dumbasses, I swear.**

Sorry about that. I would rather have done that somewhere else but it was a** guest** so I can't exactly reply. I hate being mean, but as some of you remember **I've lost both of my uncles to suicide** so the topic doesn't exactly sit well with me. _Especially with people telling someone to do it over the dumbest of fucking reasons._

_"I don't like this one aspect of a 50k word story you wrote! Kill yourself!"_

Really? **Grow up**, and realize the_** horible insignifigance of your existance.**_ Maybe then you'll become _semi-_productive. Might even lose your virginity, _who knows?_

Again though after all of this I feel the need to say this,** DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES KILL YOURSELF. IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO KNOW ABOUT, PM ME AND I WILL EVEN GIVE YOU MY NUMBER. I WILL HELP HOWEVER I CAN.**

I feel like a dick but **I'm not gonna tolerate that level of stupid.** And if any of you encounter any jackasses like this asshole just remind yourselves that _they're stupid_. God I need to end this rant.

**End AN / Partial Rage / Mostly Rage /Ok, Fine. ****_Entirely Rage_**

Naruto walked through the village with a purpose. He knew exactly where he was going. What he didn't know is what he was going to say.

_It's not like I can just say I'm a fucking idiot and I'm sorry I hurt you._

**Actually, that's probably the best thing you can say.**

_KURAMA?!_

**Yeah, Kit. It's me.**

_Do you have any idea how much I've needed you in the past few months and you're choosing now to start talking to me?!_

**Yeah, Yeah. I know, Kit. I know. But first let me say something.**

Naruto was still walking toward his destination.

_What?_

**I'm sorry. **

Naruto had expected several things. This was not one of them.

_Why?_

**I lied to you, Kit. I gave you that advice hoping it would help you move past Ayame. The way you were torturing yourself with her wasn't healthy and I thought that if you dated Sakura it would help you get over her.**

Naruto stopped and sat down on a bench. The whole world was spinning. _Kurama lied to me?_

**I know you probably hate me but let me help you make this right!**

_YOU'RE THE REASON I'VE BEEN FEELING LIKE THIS! AND YOU BAILED ON ME!_ Naruto clenched his fists as tears began to roll down his cheeks._ I've had to watch day in day out as she moved on with Sasuke. To know that it was someone else making her laugh, making her smile. And all I could do was watch._

Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his dad smiling down at him.

"But it doesn't have to stay this way Naruto." Minato said. "Go talk to her."

Naruto nodded as he wiped his tears and sprinted down the street.

_I'm just glad this is all about to be over with_. Minato thought as he smiled and looked up at the sky. Just as he began to let himself relax two ANBU appeared in front of him.

"Hokage-sama! We have urgent news!" one of them said. Minato already knew what the news was.

"Tell me along the way." He said, and with that the three of them headed towards the Forest of Death.

Naruto arrived at Ichiraku ramen to find a very angry Teuchi and a concerned looking Ayame.

"So you're finally back, eh Naruto?" Teuchi asked angrily.

"Dad!" Ayame said, moving past her dad so she could check on Naruto. He was covered in sweat and looked like he was ready to fall over.

"What are you doing here Naruto?" Ayame asked as she helped the boy onto a stool and gave him a glass of water.

"I need- to talk- to you." He managed to get out between gasps for air.

"About what?" Ayame asked, mildly confused.

Naruto continued to try and catch his breath. When he could finally speak clearly he looked her dead in the eye.

"I love you Ayame!" Naruto shouted as he grasped the girl's shoulders. "I know that I'm an idiot and that I've hurt you but I really do! I can't take back what I've done but please atleast allow me the chance to explain!"

Ayame was in shock. _H-he loves me?_ She began to recite the words in her head._ He loves me. He loves me! HE LOVES ME!_

She didn't realize she had tears in her eyes until Naruto wiped them away for her.

"I-I love you too, Naruto!" Ayame said as she curled up into the blonde's arms.

"Now hold up, Naruto!" Teuchi shouted. "You're going to have to explain yourself to me!"

So Naruto took a seat at the bar and ordered a large bowl of Miso Ramen as he began telling the old man about everything that had happened since he had returned to the village, including what had just happened at the Forest of Death.

"Well, I'll give you this." Teuchi said after Naruto was finished, "There's no way you're lying. Otherwise you wouldn't have told me about that last part."

"That's why I included it." Naruto said, looking down at his now empty bowl of ramen.

_She kissed him?_ Ayame thought in shock.

"She did." Naruto said, reading Ayame's features and knowing exactly what she was thinking. "But I didn't kiss her."

Ayame looked up at the blondes smiling face and without another word he leaned in and kissed her. She was surprised at first but found herself clinging to the boy and not wanting the moment to end.

_Finally._ The girl thought as she wrapped her fingers in the boys clothes, clingng to him tighter._ Finally._

Just as soon as the moment began, it came to an end. The Yondaime Hokage flashed to ramen stand.

"As sorry as I am to interupt, I need him." Minato said. "Come on Naruto."

Naruto wanted to stay, but he knew the look in his dad's eyes. It was something he never wanted to see there a second time. _He's afraid._

Naruto nodded in agreement and the two flashed away, leaving Ayame and Teuchi standing there.

_Be safe, Naruto._ Ayame thought as the two disappeared.

"He'll be fine!" Teuchi said behind her. "After all, that boy is the pride of the Leaf!"

**(NAME DROP!)**

Team 7 was in a bind. They had found another squad with an earth scroll and had easily taken them down and gotten their scroll. Sasuke had sealed it in a similar fashion but on his right forearm this time.

Since then they had been under attack by a squad from Kusagakure. (Village Hidden in the Grass)

They had managed to kill two of their attackers but the last one was on a completely different level.

"Shikamaru!" Sasuke shouted as he leaped away from a barrage of mud bullets. "We need a plan! Now!"

Sakura was using her healing jutsu to patch up the Nara's leg. He had gotten hit by a kunai when they had first come under attack and it had gotten to the point where if it went untreated any further he may loose the leg entirely.

"I'm working on it!" The Nara shouted back. "Just hold him off a bit longer!"

"What do you think I'm doing?!" Sasuke shouted before going through several handsigns. "Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (Grand Fireball Jutsu!)

A giant fireball spewed from the Uchiha's mouth, heading right at his attacker who made no effort to dodge.

The fireball hit, and Sasuke was completely mortified by what he saw. Half of the woman he had been fighting's face was now peeled off revealing a much paler tone underneath. The brown eyes he had looked into before were now yellow with slit pupils.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!" Sasuke shouted as he pulled out two kunai from the pouch on his back.

"Sasuke, my boy. My name is Orochimaru." He peeled the rest of the partially melted skin off himself. "And I'm here to make you an offer."

"Oh yeah?" Sasuke asked, tensing up. "And what's that?"

Orochimaru laughed a sinister but soft laugh. It chilled all of team 7 to their very core. "You're acting like you have a choice." He positioned himself to strike. "But I'll humor you. I'll give you power beyond all imagination, power to erase anything and everything that has caused you pain, to take anything you want by force, to do anything you could possibly want."

Ayame's face came to the boy's mind and Sasuke relaxed for a second before tensing up a bit. "Why does it feel like there's a catch?"

"My dear boy, all you have to do is come with me and become my student." Orochimaru said cooly.

Sasuke looked over at Shikamaru and Sakura with a torn expression on his face. "Will you leave them alone if I do?"

Orochimaru laughed again. "Of course my boy." A sinister smile crossed his face as his neck extended and his face shot out towards Sasuke. "The only thing I'm after here is you!"

Sasuke made no effort to dodge as Orochimaru sunk his teeth into the boy's neck. The boy let out a loud, pained scream before falling to the ground unconscious.

Orochimaru quickly retracted his neck as a loud explosion sent dirt and and a cloud of dust everywhere.

_Now what?!_ Shikamaru thought. He had been afraid that there would be a new enemy for them to face, that someone had come to pick up then now unconscious Sasuke and take him to god knows where. Instead once the smoke cleared, he felt relieved. We're gonna be okay now.

Sakura looked over to where the smoke was clearing to see a faint orange glow. She was terrified of what it might be. When she saw what it actually was, she'd never been so happy in her life.

Two Naruto's were standing there, staring Orochimaru down. Both were giving off a strange orange light and it looked like their entire bodies were made out of fire. One of the Naruto's leaned down and picked up Sasuke before running over to where Sakura and Shikamaru were at. "Hold hands you two." was all that he said.

The two obeyed and were teleported to the tower at the center of the forest. Sakura looked at the clone. That was all it took. The look in his eyes when he looked back at her said it all.

"I'm sorry." was all the clone said before poofing out of existence.

Naruto refused to drop his gaze from Orochimaru.

"Well, well. I just may kill two birds with one stone while I'm here." Orochimaru said as he positioned himself to fight the blonde headed ninja.

Naruto stood strait up and spoke with authority. "Orochimaru. You are wanted for your crimes against the leaf. If you don't turn yourself over now, I will kill you."

Orochima just laughed at him. "You'll try." And with that he leaped strait at Naruto as a sword came out of his mouth. Naruto ducked underneath the blow and placed an open palm strike right into Orochimaru's abdomen. The snake caughed as he felt the full force of the attack ripple through his body.

"Not good enough." he hissed though clenched teeth.

"It wasn't meant to be." Naruto replied with a smirk.

Orochimaru looked down to see a familiar looking seal on his gut. _NO!_

He leaped backwards trying to put some distance between him and the boy.

"There's nowhere you can run that I can't find you." Naruto said, as he flashed to where Orochimaru is standing.

Orochimaru just laughed. "It seems that I may have underestimated you, but I won't be making that mistake again." and with that the mud clone melted back into the ground.

_How did he make these clones that durable?_ Naruto thought as he pumped some chakra into the ground for safe measure, causing the ground around him to explode violently.

Guess it was just a clone after all. And after that he flashed over to the tower where his clone had left his students.

Shikamaru was comforting a now crying Sakura and Sasuke still laid unconscious. Naruto relaxed as he release his chakra mode.

Naruto turned to the guard at the door. "We need to come in." He pulled out a tied note from inside a pocket on his vest. "Hokage's order's. these genin just fought Orochimaru. They need to be debriefed, treated for Orochimaru's typical poisons, and he's gonna need a seal placed around that mark on his neck."

The guard took the note, untied it, and quickly read it. "Do they have both scrolls?"

Naruto rolled his eyes._ Seriously?!_

"We do, but they're sealed on Sasuke's arm." Shikamaru answered.

Naruto walked over to where Sasuke was laying and pushed a small amount of chakra into the two seals on the boy's arm. Two scrolls fell to the ground and Naruto picked them up.

"Here's your damn scrolls!" Naruto shouted as he threw the two scrolls at the guard, "Now get my team the treatment they need!"

"Y-yes sir!" the guard shouted, noticing Naruto's impatience.

Shikamaru was wheeled into a hospital wing of the tower by several medic ninjas. Naruto picked up Sasuke off the ground and picked him up on his back. "Follow me, Sakura. We need to talk." He said grimly as he led the girl to an isolated room of the tower.

Once there, he sat Sasuke dwn in a chair at the center of the room and began drawing a seal all across the floor around the raver haired boy.

"Why did you ask me to follow you Naruto-sensei?" Sakura asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Because the last thing any of you need is to be alone." Naruto replied without looking up from his work. "Right now Shikamaru is with his family and my dad, Sasuke's family has yet to be informed, and your family is away on a mission. I figured this was the best way for me make sure you two were alright." He paused for a moment before adding "Plus I think we need to talk."

Sakura smiled. "There's no need. I already-"

She stopped mid sentence to see Naruto sitting on his feet, hands folded in his lap with his head bowed. "I'm sorry, Sakura." He said fighting back tears. "I'm so sorry. I used you. I stomped on your feelings and used them."

Sakura had to fight back tears herself.

"I know you'll never be able to forgive me, I mean how could you? But if you'll allow me I'd still like to be your sensei." Naruto finished.

Sakura wiped her eyes. "Of course, Naruto-sensei." She said with a smile. "But on one condition."

Naruto looked up at the girl confused. "What's that?"

"You have to stay my friend." Sakura said. "That and I get to drop the sensei when we're not on mission. I've gotten kinda used to calling you Naruto around the village that it'd feel weird to start doing it again."

_How?_

**How what?**

_How can she forgive me so easily?_

**Kit, she knew you still had feelings for Ayame from the beginning. She'd probably prepaired herself for this from the time you two started dating.**

Naruto stood up and wrapped his arms around the pink haired girl. "Thank you Sakura."

"You're welcome."

"Now back to you." Naruto said, turning his attention back to Sasuke. "We need to get this over with but first..." Naruto reached over to Sasuke and flicked him in the forehead. "Hey wake up teme."

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes.

"W-where am I?" he asked, looking around the room.

"You're at the tower you were supposed to be making your way towards." Naruto put his hands on his hips. "Seriously, you guys can't even manage this much without my help?" Naruto shot a smirk over to Sasuke.

"I don't wanna hear that coming from you." Sasuke retorted.

"Thanks for that by the way." Naruto said, tousling the boy's hair a bit. "Now hold still, I gotta finish this seal. I'd rather me wake you up than the pain."

Sasuke felt his heart breaking. He knew Ayame had chosen Naruto. He knew she would. Hell, he'd even helped the guy. But it still hurt.

"I've had worse." Sasuke replied.

"Maybe, but it's still gonna hurt." Naruto said, now drawing symobols on Sasuke's back.

_This feels right somehow._ Sakura said, looking at the interaction between the two boys. _I wish things could stay like this forever._

She had no way of knowing that things would never be like this again.

Naruto finished his drawings and sat his brush down. "Are you ready?" He asked Sasuke as he placed his hand over the mark on the boy's neck.

"As I'll ever be." Sasuke replied.

Naruto pumped his own chakra into the seal as the writing he had just done all over Sasuke's back seemed to ignite. Sasuke gasped, the pain was much more than he had anticipated but he still knew he had felt worse, was feeling worse.

The writing then climbed up Sasuke's back and wrapped itself around the mark on his neck before it finally went out.

Sasuke collapsed out of the chair and onto the floor.

"A word of warning Sasuke." Naruto said, offering a hand to the boy. "Orochimaru only gives those to people he wants. And if he wants you, it won't end well. That seal is only as strong as your will. So don't use it, alright?"

"Alright." Sasuke agreed as he took his sensei's hand.

"Now you guys have some time to kill until the next round so relax and recover, alright?" Naruto said as he helped the boy to his feet.

"Alright." Sasuke and Sakura said in unison.

Shikamaru was released from the hospital later that same day and was told he would be fully healed before the next round began.

Sasuke practiced with Naruto on using chakra without activating his seal.

Sakura kept the two of them healthy while they did so.

Naruto didn't leave his team in the entire five days they had to wait for the remaining teams to show up.

The day before the start of the next round Minato came to talk to Naruto.

"I need a favor." Minato said. "Kakashi was supposed to be proctoring the next round but I had to send him and Obito out on a mission. I need you to do it instead."

Naruto agreed without complaint. _It's not like one on one matches are complicated._

Naruto walked out to the center of the room. All of the chuunin hopefuls and their jounin were on a baclony looking down to where he was standing. He had even created a shadow clone to stand with his team.

"My name is Namikaze Naruto." Naruto started, "And I will be the proctor for this portion of the exams. If you'll look behind me you'll see two large tv's. When your name appears, come down here and fight the other person whose name appears. Simple enough right?"

He looked around the room to see several confident genin but just as many who looked terrified.

"Avoid killing your opponent if you can. I will interrupt a fight to stop one of you from killing one another." Naruto spotted Gaara and his team. "Do your best. And fight to win."

Name's began flashing accross the screen.

'TenTen vs Sakura'

Saukra looked around trying to find her opponent. She saw he standing next to Gai.

"She's one of them..." Sakura mumbled.

"She's a weapons specialist." Naruto's clone said behind her. "Get in close and end it fast. Remember what Rin and I taught you."

Sakura nodded in reply before leaping down from the balcony. TenTen jumped down as well and the two locked eyes.

This is gonna be a good one. Naruto thought before shouting "Fight!"

Without any hesitation Sakura rushed strait at TenTen.

_She's fast!_ TenTen thought as she jumped off to one side, dodging a strait punch from the pink haired girl.

Sakura's fist connected with the wall instead as loud crashing sound and dust spread throughout the room.

_So Rin did teach you that._ Naruto thought proudly as he watched Sakura leap into the air.

TenTen jumped away in a panic._ What the hell?!_

Sakura landed right where TenTen was standing and immediately launched herself to where the girl was at now. She was still in midair, and a wide open target.

_Not good._ TenTen thought as se quickly pulled out a scroll and released the seal on it.

She had only just summoned the massive blade when Sakura's fist connected with it, shattering it. Sakura followed up with a right hook that connected with the brunette's chin. TenTen was sent flying into a wall. It wasn't until the dust settled that everyone realized she was still standing.

"Are you sure you want to continue?" Naruto asked her.

"I've been hit harder." She said, looking at Lee who only smiled in return.

"That's right TenTen!" Gai shouted from the balcony. "Show them the power of your youth!"

TenTen produced two more scrolls as she jumped high into the air. She began spinning quickly as kunai launched out in every direction.

Sakura smiled as she began dodging. "I wouldn't be a very good medic if I didn't know how to dodge, now would I?"

TenTen saw the ease with which the girl was evading her attack. _Faster. I've gotta go faster!_

She sped up her spin, sending the kunai flying out at an even higher velocity, but still Sakura was dodging them all with ease.

She soon realized her scrolls were depleted and landed on the ground. Sakura rushed at her and got to her just before her feet hit the ground.

TeneTen went flying backwards. Naruto caught her just before she hit the wall. He layed her down before medics cam rushing in to take the girl away on a stretcher. "Winner. Haruno Sakura."

Sakura was smiling as she jumped back up to where team 7 was waiting for her.

"Good job Sakura." Naruto said. "I guess Rin taught you just about everything she learned from Tsunade-sama."

Sakura smiled at the compliment.

Names began flashing across the screens again.

'Sasuke v Kiba'

The two locked eyes from across the room. Sasuke's sharingan flared to life.

Kiba's hand rose into the air almosr immediately. "I conceide."

Sasuke smirked. _Genjutsu makes this way to easy._

Naruto shrugged. "The winner is Uchiha Sasuke."

The screens flashed back to life.

This went on for several hours until finally only 10 competitors remained.

Negi had to fight his own cousin. During the course of there battle she had sustained severe injuries, but none of them were fatal.

Sasuke won his by cheating, but Naruto made sure to let Sasuke know that he had caught that.

Sakura beat TenTen in an impressive fashion.

Shikamaru outsmarted his opponent and ended up catching his shadow. He then made the boy pull out a kunai and threatened to make him kill himself.

Temari won in a battle of endurance over her opponent. Both used wind chakra, but Temari won by being able to fight longer and smarter than her opponent.

Gaara had to fight some unlucky guy who was in way over his head and decided not to take Naruto's advice to forfeit.

Chouji had used his partial expansion to punch his opponent hard enough to send them through three concrete walls.

The rest Naruto didn't even bother to remember, none of them had really impressed him. He assumed they had just gotten lucky on their opponents.

"Congrats." Naruto said as the final match came to an end. "Those of you who won please join me down here so we can figure out the brackets for the finals that will be held in one month."

All of the winners jumped down from the balcony and formed a semi-circle around the blonde.

"The finals will proceed as follows. Round 1: Sasuke vs Negi. Round 2: Choji vs Gaara. Round 3: Sakura v Temari Round 4: Shikamaru vs you, the one in the stupid hat, yeah you. Round 5: If I really need to say it then you're dumb as rocks. Any questions?"

"Is there a reason you don't remember our names?"

"Any important questions?"

"I think my question's important!"

"From someone whose opinion actually matters?"

"..."

"Good. Prepare yourselves accordingly. And remember this: Any of you can become a chunin now. Aim to impress. Not just to win, but to wow, got it?"

All of the genin nodded in agreement.

"Good. Dismissed."

**End**

A/N I got kinda lazy at the end and all but the next chapter is going to cover everything that transpires at the finals. It will be a long one so expect it to take me some time.

As always **Favorite / Review / Follow**

**_-SurrealCereal-_**


	22. Drama Explained

Spoilers!

Hey guys, I figured I could at least explain why there was drama since we have now moved past it.

It's actually very simple.

I needed a reason for Sasuke to leave.

Think about it. With his family never murdered he wouldn't be trying to get the power to kill his brother. If he wanted strength he could always train with Naruto Obito and Kakashi. So I had to create something, I chose heartbreak. Sasuke uses Orochimaru's offer to escape from it. Yes it did complicate the story with drama, but Ayame was really the only choice. I also had to give her a reason to move past Naruto, enter Sakura. So yes, Sakura is probably the best person in this story, but Naruto will be making it up to her, and who's to say she won't move on in the time between the end of this story and the start of the next?

Anyways, this last chapter has been in the plans since I wrote chapter 1. And in my opinion, it's the only way the story can go.

-SurrealCereal-


	23. Chapter 23

Can I get a drum roll please?

Here it is boys, girls, and those of you somewhere in between: The Grand Finale of Naruto: Pride of the Leaf. When I started writing this story I didn't expect nearly as many of you to read it as you did and all the positive feedback was great! Seriously, I just went back and looked at all the reviews and messages I received and it made me happy to be able to give this story the finale it deserves, but more than that, the finale YOU GUYS deserve. So I hope this doesn't let you down, especially after waiting for so long for it. So let's go ahead and get started then.

Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Finale

Naruto stood gazing out over the field, the grass swaying with the wind. His three pupils were all training separately with clones he had made,each of them focusing on a different aspect of combat. Sasuke was working to refine his chakra control. With the new seal in place it made it a bit harder to him to properly mold chakra, but he was able to adjust quickly. Shikamaru was working on his ranged combat, particularly how to close the gap between himself and an opponent. He still had a way to go, but the rate he was learning at was astounding. He was already finding new ways to close the gap between himself and Naruto's clone in ways that Naruto could only describe as _creative._ Sakura was practicing her genjutsu and attempting to use it to create openings for her taijutsu. She was getting better and better at being able to apply it quickly and while on the move.

Naruto found a smile come across his lips as he looked out at them, despite everything his team had been through they were stronger than ever. He uncrossed his arms and walked over to them. "Take a break guys, I have an announcement." He said, waving them towards him. The clones quickly disappeared and all three genin walked over towards him, tired and sweating. "I want to let you all know how proud I am of your hard work in training these past few weeks so we're going to play a little game." A foxy grin spread across his features and reached into his pocket. All three of the genin smiled when they saw him produce two very familiar looking bells.

"It won't be as easy as last time, Naruto-sensei!" Sakura shouted eagerly.

"I think you underestimate your sensei." Kakashi whispered in her ear. Sakura jumped backwards and pulled out a kunai. "Easy Sakura. Naruto, why don't you tell them what's going on?"

Naruto smiled and cleared his throat, "Today, you guys are gonna help me take the bells from Kakashi-sensei."

The three genin shared a glance before looking back up to Naruto. "We'll handle it, you just take a seat Naruto-sensei." Sasuke said cooly as he removed his hands from his pockets.

"Well if you say so." Naruto said as he took a seat, "But remember, I did offer to help. Kakashi, don't hold back!"

The three genin smiled as they took a defensive stance and that was the last thing any of them could remember. The next thing they knew they were all waking up after night had fallen, laying on the grass. Naruto was sitting on a branch of a near-by tree, looking up at the sky and eating a small bag of chips.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, trying to recall how all three of them had fallen.

"First let me ask you this." Naruto said as he put another chip in his mouth and quickly ate it, "Who did I say was helping me?"

The three genin all looked at eachother before answering simultaneously, "Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto busted out laughing, nearly falling from the branch he was sitting on.

"Why is that funny?" Sasuke demanded.

Naruto wiped a tear from his eye, "Itatchi was right, you guys really do need work on genjutsu defense! He was the one who you guys were up against!" He started laughing again as the rest of the team's faces turned red. "He's the one who was here earlier!"

Naruto regained his composure as he jumped down from the branch, landing softly next to his team. "But that will have to wait, for now I want you all to rest until the finals. You've all trained hard and I know you'll do well. So until then, relax a bit and spend some time with your friends and families and I'll see you guys at the arena on Friday."

"But sensei," Sakura protested, "That's still four days away! Surely we can get another day of training in before then!" Sasuke and Shikamaru both nodded in agreement.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "We could, but it might hinder your chakra reserves during the exams so for now just rest and focus on what you've already accomplished. You guys are gonna do great, you know?" They all nodded in consent.

**Later That Night**

"You understand why I'm doing this, right Naruto?" Minato asked, looking across the dinner table to his son.

"I understand, Hokage-sama." Naruto replied.

"Good." Minato said, "Then as Hokage I appoint you, Uzumaki Naruto to ANBU. I also appoint you to the Hokage's personal bodyguard."

"I'm honored, Hokage-sama." Naruto said as he took a knee.

"Orochimaru is definitely up to something with these exams and you managed to mark him. I need you as close to me as possible so we can stop whatever it is he's planning." Minato said. "All we know for sure is that he's targeted Sasuke. Given that, his best window of opportunity will be at the chuunin exam finals."

Naruto only nodded in agreement.

"I'll have you make a clone so that your team isn't suspicious, but you will be by my side at all times during the finals."

"I understand, Hokage-sama." Naruto said, bowing his head.

Over the next few days, Naruto assumed his ANBU identity. He stood behind his father while his father carried out all of his duties. The rest of his team did as they were told and took the time before the exams to relax.

Soon it was the day of the exams. The Hidden Leaf Village had an arena for such events. It was on the outskirts of the village in an attempt to reduce the amount of collateral damage done to the village.

Naruto's clone was standing by outside the arena waiting on Team 7, while the real Naruto was already inside with his father.

The clone saw Gaara walking up to the arena and waved at him. Gaara waved back and made his way over to the blonde jounin.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Gaara said with a slight bow. "We need to talk." Naruto noticed the tenseness of his posture and nodded in agreement.

_Something has really got him worked up._

**Be on your guard Kit. I sense something sinister at play here.**

The two walked over to a near-by grotto of trees away from any unwanted visitors. Naruto went to ask Gaara what the problem was but as he did, sand shot out from Gaara's hand and covered his mouth.

"Beware the Kazekage. He is not who he appears to be." And with that, Gaara closed his hand, crushing the clones head. The clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Naruto was made instantly aware of Gaara's warning.

He leaned down into his father's ear and relayed what had happened. Minato nodded in reply and said, "Atleast now we know who to watch."

"He took a huge risk telling us that. We need to remember to thank him properly later." Naruto added as Minato nodded in agreement.

Soon the Kamekaze arrived with his escort. The escort's facial expression told Naruto everything that he needed to know. He glanced to see if his father picked up on it as well.

Minato stood and greeted the "Kazekage" in a friendly manner. "Ah, Kazekage-sama! So happy you could come all the way here to join us!" Minato said as he extended his hand forward towards the Kazekage.

TheKazekage glared at him and denied the handshake by waving it off. "You'll excuse me Hokage-_sama. _It seems as if I've come down with something recently and it would be just dreadful for you to catch it was well.

"Now that you mention it," Minato said, assuming a mocking, observing stance, "You do seem a bit pale and clammy. Almost like a reptile!" Minato said laughing at his own joke.

Naruto caught the glare the Kazekage shot at his father and instinctively reached for a kunai. The Kazekage caught this however and decided diplomacy would be best.

"Hokage-sama, you tease too much." the Kazekage replied.

"But it fits someone who's coming from the desert, doesn't it?" Minato asked, still laughing.

It was clear he was trying to goad Orochimaru into the first strike. Best to do it now rather than later, while some of the seats were still empty.

"Namikaze Minato, you really should think of the consequences of teasing me so harshly." Orochimaru said, letting his true voice come out but not dropping the disguise.

"Give the signal ANBU." Minato said to Naruto as he flung off the Hokage cap.

Naruto did a single hand seal and a red flare shot into the sky over the stadium. As it soared into the air, Orochimaru lunged at the boy, but Minato jumped in and blocked the blow.

As quick as this happened, soon they were all surrounded by another three ANBU.

"Your move, Orochimaru." Minato said with a grin.

Orochimaru smiled in reply. "Then I'd best make the most of it."

Right outside the stadium, three genin who had been looking for their sensei saw the flare flying above the stadium.

"That doesn't look good." Shikamaru stated flatly.

"That's an ANBU signal the the Hokage's come under attack!" Sasuke said and started to run towards were the flare was now falling.

Gaara grabbed him by the collar. "Stay here, if you go you'll only be in his way."

"Whose way?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto's." Gaara answered in his typical monotone.

Just then a deafening roar filled the air as the Kyuubi became visible from where they were standing.

"Show off." Shikamaru stated as he folded his hands behind his head.

Naruto held Orochimaru on the defensive, but he couldn't land a single clean hit. The other ANBU had cleared out the stadium now, so he could fight with Kurama but even then he still couldn't catch the snake. It was almost as if Orochimaru was just teasing him.

As if to confirm this Orochimaru laughed as he deftly dodged another attack and said "Your attacks are too straight forward, Naruto-kun. Even though you're a jounin, you're still green."

And suddenly Naruto was on the defensive, dodging and blocking attacks from what seemed like every angle. He blocked an attack from his right but heard a metallic clang from behind him as he did. He turned to see his dad standing there, blocking a sword that was protruding from Orochimaru's mouth. "We'll fight him together." Minato said, smiling at his son. Naruto smiled and nodded in reply as he pulled Kurama back inside himself.

Obito looked down from the top of the arena, watching the fight with his sharingan active and throwing kunai when possible in an attempt to disrupt Orochimaru's attacks but the snake was sharp and always adjusted to negate them.

He stood there watching the trade of blows for what felt like forever, knowing that sooner or later something would give. He had a feeling he knew what it would be, but prayed he was wrong.

Minato had a couple of scratches but nothing life threatening. He and Naruto were doing everything they could to put up a fight but they were being caught at every turn and it was everything Minato could do to protect his son.

_If it were anyone else, they'd have died ten times over by now._ Minato thought proudly as he watched his son dodge yet another attack.

"Where are you looking Minato?!" Orochimaru shouted as his blade pierced the blonde man's back and come out of his chest.

Minato looked down to see the blade protruding from his body. Blood soaked his clothes as he fell to the ground, Orochimaru retracting the blade. The blonde coughed up blood as he lay on the ground. He pressed his hands to the wound in an attempt to keep pressure on it, but he had been ran through and he knew he wold be dead soon.

"DAD!" Naruto shouted, running over to his fallen father. Minato watched, in what seemed like slow motion, as Orochimaru came up behind his son. He tried to shout to warn the boy, but he couldn't even breathe much less shout. He watched in horror as the blade that had just pierced him caught his unsuspecting son, lifting him off the ground as the blade went through him.

Naruto collapsed to the ground, lifeless and un-moving. He heard a shout from above and looked up to see Obito jumping down and attacking Orochimaru furiously. On closer inspection he could see his student's Sharingan was now at its second level.

_Please... Save him... _Minato thought, as he let sleep take him.

Obito's ferocity alone held Orochimaru on the ropes. He dodged every counter the snake threw at him and was able to get several clean hits in, but he knew he didn't have the power to do the sannin in for good.

Out of nowhere he felt a strong bloodlust, immediately followed by the blood chilling scream he'd ever heard in his life.

**"OROCHIMARU! YOU'RE GONNA PAY!" **Naruto shouted as he stumbled to his feet, blood red chakra swirling around him "**I'LL KILL YOU, YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!"**

Orochimaru only smiled as he leapt to the top of the stadium. "Then I suppose this is where I take my leave for now. I can't afford to die here after all, I have other matters I must attend to first."

Naruto charged at him, faster than even Obito's eyes could track but Orochimaru dodged easily, still smiling as he did so.

The wind alone from Naruto's attack completely demolished a portion of the arena.

Team 7 looked on the scene with horror. The hokage was laying in a pool of his own blood and Naruto was completely at a disadvantage against the snake sannin.

_So this is the power he was talking about._ Sasuke thought to himself, remembering Orochimaru's offer to him.

Naruto collapsed to the ground, giving in to his injuries and giving Orochimaru the window he needed to escape. He fled into the forest, stopping only to give Sasuke a brief smile before disappearing from sight.

"D-Don't g-go S-Sasuke." Naruto managed to get out between ragged breathes. "H-he c-can't keep h-his promises."

It seemed as if no one else had heard Naruto but Sasuke, they were too preoccupied with the Hokage's injuries to notice.

_This is the only chance I'll ever get. _Sasuke said inwardly, steeling himself to leave.

"I-I'll stop y-you myself if I-I h-have to." Naruto said, struggling to his feet.

_As if you could. _Sasuke sneered in his mind as he ran into the forest. He turned, shocked to see Naruto keeping pace with him.

"Just let me go!" Sasuke shouted, turning to stop and face his pursuer, "I'm just a student to you!"

"N-No you're n-not," Naruto replied, clearly struggling to breathe. "Y-you're m-my f-friend."

Sasuke laughed. "If what you've done to me is friendship, then excuse me if I want no part of it."

Naruto took a fighting stance.

"You can barely stand, much less fight!" Sasuke shouted, "What exactly do you think you're gonna do?"

"S-stop you." Naruto replied, barely able to keep his feet under him.

Sasuke laughed again, louder this time. "Well then how about we settle this with a single blow then? If you win I'll stay if not, you're dead."

"F-Fine." Naruto replied without any hesitation. He began to mold chakra in his palm. _I'll only be able to use a basic rasengan. I hope that'll be enough... Please... Be enough..._

Lightning crackled around Sasuke's hand. "Let's do this Naruto!" He shouted as he rushed at the blonde.

Naruto dug his feet into the ground and pushed off as hard as he could manage. "Sasuke!" He shouted as a tear fell to the ground. _I failed you._

"Chidori!"

"Rasnegan!"

The air around the two exploded, blowing away dirt, trees, and rocks around them as the two attacks collided.

Naruto awoke in the hospital sometime later. He did a quick check of his wounds and it seemed as if they were almost completely healed. He scanned the room and found Ayame sleeping in a chair, wearing his usual jacket. He snuck out of the bed and kissed her forehead. She stirred a bit but didn't wake up as he made his way out of the room.

He began sneaking through the hospital looking for his dad. He found the room and when he walked in he started crying. Tsunade stood at the foot of his father's bed and was poking his dad's feet with a needle but his dad wouldn't move in reply.

"N-No!" Naruto stammered. "This can't be real..."

"Naruto!" Tsunade shouted, turning to face the mortified blonde. "You should be in bed!"

"He'll be ok, right Tsunade?" Naruto pleaded, tears streaming down his cheaks and soaking into his hospital gown. "He'll be alright, right?"

The grim look on Tsunade's face said it all. Naruto ran out of the room, out of the hospital, and nearly out of the village. He made his way to the top of the Hokage Mountain. A few minutes later Obito joined him. He sat down beside the boy, neither of them saying anything for a while.

"What's gonna happen now?" Naruto asked after a while.

"They haven't announced it yet, but they're going to be replacing him as hokage." Obito said grimly.

"Who could possibly do better than my dad?!" Naruto asked angrily.

"Who indeed?" Obito asked rhetorically. "He saved countless lives that day, you did too, but it was his thinking that prepared everyone for that attack. Whoever his successor is will have some pretty big shoes to fill."

"They won't have it easy." Naruto stated.

"No they won't." Obito agreed. "With this, the village is vulnerable. The new Hokage needs to be someone everyone recognizes."

"What about Jiraiya or Tsunade?" Naruto asked, begining to calm down.

"They both declined." Obito sighed.

"Kakashi?" Naruto asked.

"Also declined."

"You?" Naruto asked.

"You followed their train of thought to the letter." Obito stated, a bit surprised.

"YOU?" Naruto asked again, wanting an answer.

"Me."

"You're gonna be the next Hokage?" Naruto asked again, just to be sure.

"I'm gonna be the next Hokage." Obita stated. "And I'm gonna need someone I can trust to have my back. Kakashi agreed to be one of my assistants, would you like to be the other?"

Naruto gave it some thought before shaking his head. "I need to get stronger. Orochimaru was right, I may be a jounin but I'm still too green. If you need an ANBU though, I'll do that."

"Done." Obito said with a smile.

The next three years passed quietly in the Hidden Leaf. Shikamaru and Sakura were reassigned to different teams. Every chance he gets, Naruto goes to see Ayame. Minato advises the new Hokage any time he asks for help. He and Kushina still live happily together and both are now retired. Obito and Kakashi worked together with Jiraiya to try and gather information regarding Orochimaru and the Akatsuki and anytime they had a solid lead on something they would always send the now most unpredictable ANBU, The Pride of the Leaf, Naruto.

End

That's it guys, thanks for reading! Seriously thank you guys so so so so so much! I hope you enjoyed the finale of this story and please guys, go check out my other works in progress! And Also I'm prepaired for the hate-mail. I know it's coming. I can feel it.

But seriously guys, thank you for sticking with me through thick and thin and I'm sorry I was AFK for so long! But I genuinely hope this makes up for like 1/10th of it. Anyways until next time~

SurrealCereal


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